Old photo of Covid-19 food relief queue in South Africa used out of context in post on Kenya drought

This article is more than one year old.
Published on October 27, 2022 at 16:43
2 min read
By James OKONG'O, AFP South Africa, AFP Kenya

As Kenyan authorities and relief groups were distributing food to residents of drought-stricken Laikipia county on October 24, 2022, an image circulated on Facebook with claims that it showed a long line of people waiting for these donations. However, the image was used out of context: it shows Covid-19 relief efforts in South Africa back in 2020.

The post was published on Facebook on October 24, 2022, and has since been shared more than 190 times.

“Dismay in Mt. Kenya as starving and angry locals endure shame to line up in long queues for the first time ever in history to receive relief food (sic),” reads the caption.

Screenshot showing the misleading post, taken on October 26, 2022

The post was published by the account of the diaspora news site Kenyan Report and shared a link to an article about hunger in drought-stricken regions that uses the same photo.

More than three million Kenyans are food insecure following four consecutive below-average rainy seasons that have hampered crop production in the country. The government has partnered with relief organisations to distribute food to those affected by the crisis.

Dorcas Rigathi, the wife of Kenya’s deputy president Rigathi Gachagua, visited the Solio Settlement Scheme in Laikipia county on October 24, 2022, where she distributed food to those affected by the drought.

Laikipia is one of the nine counties that make up the country’s Mt Kenya region.

In the last few months, the Kenyan government has distributed food in different parts of the country (see here and here).

But the photo used in the Facebook post doesn’t show Kenyans lining up for food.

South African food aid

AFP Fact Check conducted a reverse image search and found that the photo has been used out of context.

The photo shows South Africans queuing for food relief in Pretoria in 2020. It has been used in several articles by different news organisations (here, here, and here).

It is credited to Associated Press (AP) photographer Themba Hadebe.

We found the image in the AP’s photo archives. According to the AP’s caption, the photo shows South Africans affected by the Covid-19 economic downturn in 2020 lining up to receive food parcels in Pretoria.

Screenshot showing the original image from the AP photo archive

South Africa has recorded the highest toll from Covid-19 in all of Africa, with more than four million confirmed cases and over 100,000 deaths.

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Old photo of Covid-19 food relief queue in South Africa used out of context in post on Kenya drought

South African food aid

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