By Teboho Serutla
The ministry of small business, cooperatives and marketing has imposed a one-month restriction on importation of selected fresh produce into Lesotho, to be effective from February 1 2021.
In an internal memo on Monday, the ministry’s principal secretary, Tankiso Phapano, said pending the available horticultural commodities produced by local agricultural enterprises, the department of marketing is advised to restrict importation of tomatoes, green beans and peppers in an endeavour to facilitate market access for the selected fresh produce.
This development has received widespread applause across the spectrum of society, although some experts describe it as ‘long overdue’.
“Botswana has been doing it for a long while now and their model is succeeding. These measures nonetheless need to be supported with relevant information to farmers on where they can get sell their produce and to buyers on where they can purchase the produce. Having said that, the government of Lesotho may have jumped the gun
