Africa-Press – Lesotho. Following the declaration of food crisis in the country by the Prime Minister, the United Nations (UN) in partnership with Humanitarian Country Team, the government of Lesotho, civil society
and other development partners have launched a flash appeal of Humanitarian Assistance valued at US$33,7 million. The Minister of Development Planning Hon.
Tlohelang Aumane explained that this launch happened following the launch of the National Appeal for Humanitarian Assistance which was done by the Prime Minister and therefore, the UN has
demonstrated commitment to maintain and sustain a true partnership that fully complements the government of Lesotho in its endeavors, particularly at this
time when the country is struggling to deal with the adverse effects of drought. Aumane added that Lesotho is currently in the grip of a devastating drought which has
resulted in widespread water shortage that has crippled normal activities in the health sector, education, communities and worst of all the agricultural
sector which provides both job opportunities and food for a majority of people in the rural areas. Food security has therefore been so adversely affected that
a total of more than 500 000 people both in the rural and urban areas have been rendered vulnerable and in need of humanitarian assistance[p1] . “These group of people comprises of food security sensitive members of our
community, including but not limited to children under five years, pregnant and lactating mothers and ART and those on Tuberculosis (TB) treatment,” he said.
He said it is very important this time around for the government to work in close partnership with their partners to safeguard the gains that the country made in
its quest to reduce the prevalence of HIV and AIDS and the level of malnutrition in the country. The government of Lesotho has since recognized the need to engage more sustainable livelihood strategies that strengthen Basotho’s
capacity to withstand the adverse effects of shockers and stressors. This is also in recognition of the fact that a different approach is needed if Lesotho
still hopes to achieve sustainable development goals. UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator Salvator Niyonzima said Lesotho is experiencing another severe drought following the 2015/2016 EI Nino crisis.
He said the repetitive occurrence of droughts has weakened the coping capacity of affected people. “You all know this by now that according to Lesotho
Vulnerability Assessment and integrated Phase Classification (IPC) conducted in June this year, poor harvests significantly increased food insecurity for much
of the rural population particularly small-scale farmers and agricultural laborers,” he said. He added that production for the major cereals decreased by
more than 60% compared to 2018 including a 78% decrease in maize production, 615 for wheat and 93% decrease in sorghum production. Due to the drought, many rivers literally dried out, some are still flowing but on
extremely low levels. According to the Water and Sewerage Company (WASCO) two of the major reservoirs had very low water levels and as a result sectors such as food/agriculture, wash, and health/nutrition and protection sector were negatively impacted.
