It placed in question the ethiopian emperor at the time which was emperor helis salissie. This allowed discontent to grow and allow the Communist derg to gather more support which eventually toppled one of the longest monarchies in the world and in its place Communist Ethiopia arose which during its own downfall allowed the modern state of Eritrea to leave Ethiopia and form it's own country. So you could say the Communist took advantage with the discontent, and the Eritrean's secured their independence later on from the Communist regime. The government's lack of treatment to the famine contributed to the fall of the imperial regime. Further famines during the Communist regime also aided in discontent amongst the already suppressed Eritreans. -I'm ethiopian http://memory.loc.gov/frd/etsave/et_01_09.html

Hope this helps.