Astral Codex Ten

Tigray

3 min read

Tigray

Article

Tigray is a recurring place in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 3 times across 3 issues between April 06, 2022 and October 13, 2025. The archive places it in contexts such as “Biafra/Tigray/redrawing every border in Africa”; “local groups that are already stuck in the war-torn area instead of trying to send American staffers in themselves - I think this is what’s going on in the Joint Emergency Operation in Tigray”; “random locals in Tigray with a comparative advantage”. It most often appears alongside Africa, ACX Grants, COVID.

Metadata

  • Category: Places
  • Mention count: 3
  • Issue count: 3
  • First seen: April 06, 2022
  • Last seen: October 13, 2025

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Highlights From The Comments On Self-Determination
April 06, 2022 · Original source
Biafra/Tigray/redrawing every border in Africa
Sorry, I Still Think MR Is Wrong About USAID
May 29, 2025 · Original source
The third-largest category (20%, so $300 million of their total $1.5 billion yearly budget) is the types of re-re-grants people are concerned about. Sometimes they give the money to their local Catholic equivalent, like Caritas Nigeria. In some war-torn places, they give the money to local groups that are already stuck in the war-torn area instead of trying to send American staffers in themselves - I think this is what’s going on in the Joint Emergency Operation in Tigray.
Inline links: third-largest category, Caritas Nigeria, Joint Emergency Operation
Why doesn’t USAID give grants to these groups directly, instead of giving them to CRS to give grants to them? Sometimes it’s because random locals in Tigray with a comparative advantage in dodging warlords don’t also have a comparative advantage in interfacing with the US government, which demands large amounts of paperwork. Other times it’s because these are such small grants that they’re a bad match for USAID’s long application and compliance process. Still other times, it’s because CRS has more people on the ground and more expertise in figuring out who needs money.
ACX Grants Results 2025
October 13, 2025 · Original source
Lewis Wall, $50K, for therapeutic food in Ethiopia. After years of drought, war, and locusts, the Tigray region of Ethiopia is experiencing a major famine. Lewis and the Fewsi Foundation will produce a special peanut butter optimized to relieve the worst effects of childhood malnutrition. This grant will fund a giant commercial mixer to help produce the peanut butter, plus some of the raw material and distribution cost.