By Neo Kolane
The Wool and Mohair Value-chain Competitiveness Project (WaMCoP) has received US$72 m (about M1.4 billion) to support small-scale producers in the country.
The Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund contributed US$20m, the Global Environment Facility US$6m, and the private sector US$7.3m to this amount, while the government chipped in with US$8m.
The project is expected to increase the economic and climate resilience of 225,000 rural people, especially women and the youth.
IFAD Lesotho country director, Edith Kirumba in a statement said the organisation is committed to helping Lesotho retain its global standing as a producer of good quality wool and help meetglobal demand.
She noted that the project comes timely when thecountry accelerates its efforts to boost the sectorthrough innovative approaches such as traceability, ethical and responsible production, thus allowing small-scale farmers to participate in the global market system.
According to IFAD, the project will initially focus on Mokhotlong, Maseru Rural, Quthing and ThabaTseka districts, which produce the highest quantities of wool and mohair but have high levels of poverty.
It will later be scaled up to the rest of the country to reach more rural people.
“The project will support the government and value chain players to set up a responsible production certification system, in line with the global market guidelines.
“Certification will introduce traceability to assist buyers to verify and identify wool and mohair produced in farming systems. This will not only ensure Lesotho retains its global ranking and its competitiveness in the market, but will eventually contribute to increased incomes for the farmers.
“The project will also establish a revolving fund to help farmers and value chain actors access input supply and in-kind loans,” Kirumba added.
