The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the government have signed a new Country Programming Framework (CPF) aimed at transforming Lesotho’s agrifood systems.
The strategic plan outlines the organisation’s support and priorities to assist the country in achieving sustainable agricultural development and food security.
The newly signed CPF will guide FAO’s support to Lesotho over the next five years, focusing on enhancing agricultural production and productivity, promoting sustainable management of natural resources, and building climate resilience.
The signing ceremony, held in Maseru on Monday this week was, overseen by the FAO director-general, Dr Qu Dongyu, during his five-day visit to Lesotho.
Dr Dongyu emphasized the importance of strong partnerships in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly those related to food security and sustainable agriculture.
He noted the critical role of collaborative efforts in transforming agrifood systems to be more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable.
Dr Dongyu further highlighted the challenges and opportunities facing Lesotho, including the need to shorten agrifood value chains to make them more resilient to shocks.
He acknowledged the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and recent avian influenza outbreaks on the country’s food security and livelihoods, emphasizing the importance of building more resilient food systems.
FAO would work with Lesotho to tap in to funding opportunities through the Global Environment Facility and the Green Climate Fund, he indicated.
In addition to the CPF, the partners signed another three key Technical Cooperation Projects (TCPs) funded by FAO. The projects provide seed money and catalytic funding for implementing of the CPF.
Dr Dongyu stated that one of the projects focusing on the FAO digital villages initiative aims to harness digital technologies to improve agricultural practices, enhance market access, and boost rural development in Lesotho.
The project for the FAO Green Cities Initiative promotes urban agriculture and sustainable urban planning and seeks to create greener, more livable cities while addressing food security.
The third project focuses on aquaculture and aims to promote the development of the aquaculture value chain, enhancing food security and creating job opportunities.
Dr Dongyu also stressed the need for collective action and collaboration to achieve prosperity for all in Lesotho.
“During my discussions with you these past days, I have listened to you and appreciated the work that your respective ministries are doing with FAO, and more importantly, of what we can do to further strengthen our collaboration to ensure even more impactful results.
“No one entity can address these challenges alone, but together we can do more and better. As the saying goes: one is too small a number to achieve greatness. We need to join hands and work together to support Lesotho in achieving prosperity for all – leaving no one behind,” Dr Dongyu pointed out.
On his part, the minister of agriculture and food security, Thabo Mofosi, highlighted the CPF’s role in enhancing engagement and transforming agrifood systems.
“The CPF will modernise agriculture, enhance food self-sufficiency and foster economic growth, aligning closely with our overarching goal of achieving sustained economic growth, food security and poverty reduction,” he said.
Mofosi also appreciated the long-established relations and strong cooperation that exists between the government and FAO.
He added that the government had positioned agriculture as a priority, but that there were still some shortcomings which needed to be addressed to achieve food security and transform agrifood systems in the country.
Mofosi underscored the need to establish an implementing arm within the ministry of agriculture to further develop the agriculture sector.
There was also need to establish a centre to sell produce from smallholder farmers and to develop agro-processing as this would empower farmers and improve their livelihoods.
This would also extend to school feeding schemes and in the process address malnutrition, which was a huge challenge in the country, particularly for children from less privileged families.
Mofosi solicited FAO’s support in setting up both the agriculture development agency within the ministry and the establishment of centres for agro-processing.
