The World Meteorological Organisation warned in August this year that a weak La Niña event may re-emerge later in 2021 for the second consecutive year, with the risk that forecast precipitation patterns may exacerbate existing drought in some parts of the world and increase the risk of heavy rainfall and flooding in others.
La Niña refers to the large-scale cooling of the ocean surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, coupled with changes in the tropical atmospheric circulation, namely winds, pressure and rainfall. It usually has the opposite impacts on weather and climate as El Niño.
It is worth noting that, however, all naturally occurring climate events now take place in the context of human-induced climate change, which is increasing global temperatures, exacerbating extreme weather and impacting seasonal rainfall patterns.
Past La Niña episodes have put some countries in Southern Africa, including Lesotho at high risk of incurring agricultural losses and seeing food insecurity conditions worsen. As a result, Lesotho needs to prioritise further monitoring, analysis and early action this year.
La Nina is characterised by above normal wetness. And like the Lesotho Meteorological Services predicted a few months ago, the country is expected to experience excessive rainfall between now and March 2022.
It goes without saying that excessive rainfall and the resultant flooding have an impact on agriculture and consequently food security.
We hope the authorities will not be looking to donors to help mitigate the devastating impact of this weather pattern. We should continue to look for home-grown solutions, such as boosting food security through capacity building as has been the case in the Mafeteng, Mohale’s Hoek and Quthing districts where the intervention of the Improving adaptive capacity of vulnerable and food-insecure populations in Lesotho has helped communities overcome food security challenges.
