About Lesotho Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA)
Lesotho is a land-locked country surrounded by South Africa. Featured by a unique ecosystem of high mountains, Lesotho shares challenges with other African countries: endemic poverty, inequality, HIV-AIDS, food insecurity, stunting, and increasing environmental degradation exacerbated by erratic and variable climate.
This complex vulnerability leads its population into recurrent food security crisis and increasing soil erosion and loss of natural resources. The situation can only be reverted if adequate sustainable practices are progressively introduced in Lesotho.
Since 2012, a diverse range of stakeholders with interest in food security and natural resources management have come together to develop harmonized visual training materials to be used in the promotion of Climate Smart Agriculture practices among communities, farmers, students, decision makers and the general public. This collective effort was coordinated and facilitated through the Resilience Strategy implemented by FAO and the Government of Lesotho.
Three technical working groups have been established:
- Lesotho National Conservation Agriculture Task Force
- Home Gardening and Nutrition Working Group
- Sustainable Land Management Working Group
These technical coordination groups are chaired by government representatives and supported by FAO as secretary. They are integrated by Government ministries and institutions, international and local NGOs and UN agencies. The following organizations participate in one or more of the technical working groups:
Action Aid, Apostolic Faith Mission, CARE Lesotho, Caritas, Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), Food and Nutrition Coordination Office (FNCO), Growing Nations, Lesotho Agricultural College, Lesotho College of Education, Lesotho Council of NGOs (LCN), Lesotho Red Cross Society, Machobane Foundation, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security, Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation, National University of Lesotho (NUL), Rehobothe Church, Rural Self-Help Development Association (RSDA), Send a Cow Lesotho, UNICEF, World Food Programme (WFP), World Vision Lesotho.
Lesotho CSA visual training materials have been supported financially by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection department (ECHO), the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA).
Graphic design of the CSA visual training materials has been developed by HPG Advertisement (Pretoria, South Africa).