By Matṧeliso Phulane
Lesotho and the United States through its development agency, Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), have signed a US$300 million-grant funding known as Lesotho Health and Horticulture Compact .
The project aims to advance development of Lesotho by investing in three main projects namely: Health System Strengthening (HSS), Market Driven Irrigated Horticulture (MDIH), and Business Environment and Technical Assistance (BETA).
The primary objectives of the US$118.6 million MDIH project include increasing rural income, promoting inclusive agricultural growth, and establishing sustainable model for irrigation, water resource management, and land management.
In support of these objectives, MDIH will implement activities that build capacity and provide financial support to smallholder farmers as they transition from subsistence to commercial horticulture production.
Specifically, the project supports programming to secure land rights and participation of existing landholderse, including women and youth in the irrigation schemes.
The project aims to achieve this by irrigation infrastructure covering up to 1,580 hectares in four identified irrigation scheme sites. Three of them are in Leribe district; Likhakeng, Manka, and Tsoili-Tsoili.
The fourth site will be in the southern district of Mohales’Hoek; Phamong. These sites will be made available for production through support for the partnering of smallholders and anchor farmers in commercial agriculture.
Each horticultural irrigation scheme offers room for multiple investors, ensuring that opportunities are abundant, land tenure is secure, comprehensive irrigation is tailored infrastructure is tailored to investor needs and grants are made available for planting materials and infrastructure.
