Ethiopia: Fact-checking misleading images about hunger in Amhara

By Peter Mwai
BBC Reality Check

Civilians displaced by fighting in northern Ethiopia offloading food and supplies from a truck at a school in Dessie, Ethiopia, on August 23, 2021 — GETTY IMAGES
*Thousands of civilians displaced by fighting in Amhara are relying on humanitarian aid*

The spread of conflict from Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region into neighbouring Amhara has displaced many thousands of people, leaving many desperately short of food.

Social media images have been widely shared showing malnourished women and children.

But we’ve found that some were taken elsewhere and at earlier times – from Somalia, Tigray and even from the famine in Ethiopia in 1984.

How serious are food shortages in Amhara?

The Ethiopian government puts the number of those displaced by recent fighting in the Amhara region at more than 500,000, and those in need of food at more than one million.

Some food aid has been reaching the region but the government says access to one of the worst-affected areas in Amhara’s North Wollo district has been “hindered” by opposition forces.

“The TPLF’s [Tigray People’s Liberation Front] hindrance for humanitarian actors to reach civilians in need is worsening the situation,” says Billene Seyoum, spokeswoman for Ethiopia’s prime minister.

Civilians fleeing fighting in Zarima, Amhara region of Ethiopia — GETTY IMAGES
*The number of those fleeing fighting in Amhara has been increasing*

The TPLF disputes this and has blamed the government, saying it has put areas it controls under siege and cut off communications and electricity.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says while many thousands are in need of food in some parts of the Amhara region, “at this point we have no evidence of famine in North Wollo”.

“[But] as the offensive continues and large areas remain inaccessible due to active fighting, food insecurity in this zone is serious,” according to the WFP.