{"id":6274,"date":"2021-11-26T09:03:28","date_gmt":"2021-11-26T09:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification"},"modified":"2021-11-26T09:33:51","modified_gmt":"2021-11-26T09:33:51","slug":"mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","title":{"rendered":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. <\/strong><\/span>In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district is no exception as agricultural<\/p>\n

lands, range lands and plants are seriously threatened by climate change. World Food Program (WFP) and the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation (MFRSC)<\/p>\n

had in 2017 conducted surveys that revealed that the southern districts being Mafeteng, Mohale\u2019s Hoek and Quthing have poor socio-economic status and are at high<\/p>\n

risk of climate impacts. In response to these findings and in effort to sustain these communities\u2019 livelihoods despite the impact of climate change, WFP<\/p>\n

introduced a project \u2013 in 2019 of removal of invasive species \u2018Lihalahala\u2019 on the range lands and construction of stonewalls \u2018Metseletsele\u2019 to control soil erosion.<\/p>\n

Later in 2020, a project implemented by WFP called Improving Adaptive Capacity of Vulnerable and food-insecure populations in Lesotho (IACOV) was introduced to<\/p>\n

support the three districts. This is a four year project executed by the government, Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) and MFRSC and was funded by<\/p>\n

Adaptation Fund (AF) with over M150 million. IACOV project aims to enhance the adaptive capacity and build the resilience of vulnerable and food insecure<\/p>\n

households and communities to the impacts of climate change on food security. Makoabating village in Thabana-Morena Constituency Mafeteng Project Coordinator and Foreman<\/p>\n

Letuka Lehana said Mafeteng district is one of the places where the soil does not hold moisture for a long time and with low fertile soil because of drought.<\/p>\n

He said Makoabating village seems to have been affected mostly by climate change hence the project was inaugurated in that area. \u201cThe place also suffers<\/p>\n

from high rates of soil erosion and environmental degradation. Elimination of invasive species in our range lands has benefitted us a lot since 2020 as the<\/p>\n

soil is now able to maintain its nutrients, which allows the grass to grow,\u201d he noted. He said where invasive species grow, the grass does not grow at all and<\/p>\n

their cattle have nowhere to graze. He said stonewalls are the other way to try to trap the run off soil and silt traps along the dongas are to prevent soil being washed away by running water.<\/p>\n

He said in this project they work in groups of 68 people who work for three months and at the end of every month, each earn M1 200. Lehana said they work 8<\/p>\n

hours per day and they have divided it in such a way that 4 hours is dedicated to removal of invasive species while the other 4 hours, they work in their<\/p>\n

homes where they have adapted to climate smart agriculture and they have built \u2018mantloane\u2019 to grow crops. He said IAVOC also provided over 200 of high laying chickens which they benefit eggs and meat<\/p>\n

from. Lehana further said the aim is to continue looking after their environment and building stone lines even after four years. \u201cWe are hopeful that there will be<\/p>\n

a new donor who will be attracted by the work WFP and IACOV already introduced to us and we will get another support,\u201d he said. According to Thabana-Morena Chief Moopisa Khasane, Mafeteng is affected by great<\/p>\n

desertification as their crops do not survive due to the infertile land. Khasane said because of low production in farming, they tried to seek help from<\/p>\n

many organizations with no luck until WFP and IACOV projects came to their rescue. He said the projects have brought so much impact in his community as people are<\/p>\n

now able to practice climate smart agriculture as another way of fighting poverty caused by impact of climate change. He said due to drought, their fields have cracked into dongas and they are afraid they are going to lose<\/p>\n

their soil. He said removal of invasive species along Thaba-Chitja Mountain was a great success as there is grass already growing and it will be able to trap<\/p>\n

soil and protect their wetlands. \u201cOver 200 people are going to benefit from this project as they are going to adapt to ways of living despite the challenges the<\/p>\n

world faces due to the presence of climate change,\u201d he said. One of the beneficiaries from IACOV project \u2018Mahlalefang Nkunyane said as a single parent who lost her job because of the<\/p>\n

outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19), she is now able to take care of her family and pay for children\u2019s school fees. She noted that another advantages of this<\/p>\n

project is that even during hard lockdowns, they are able to work from the comfort of their homes where they take care of their poultry and crops. \u201cThe<\/p>\n

only challenge we have is that our crops die from the heat and we would like to be assisted with greenhouses and shade net to protect them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

National Climate Change Committee (NCCC) Representative Mofihli Phaqane said surveys have revealed that the southern districts are at high chances of being affected by climate change hence as NCCC, they always<\/p>\n

support projects that are related to climate change and encourage them to come and assist in the southern districts where there is a big challenge. Phaqane<\/p>\n

further said there are great improvements made by IACOV project in Makoabating which indicates that people of that area are adapting to the changes and will<\/p>\n

be able to survive the climate change. He said what they do to protect their environment from soil erosion has benefited them a lot because in two years\u2019<\/p>\n

time, they will have much grass to allow their cattle to graze. \u201cThey are also taught climate smart agriculture and this is another way of farming that allows<\/p>\n

crops to be able to survive under any weather conditions,\u201d he said. He said other projects which will continue the work at that place after four years,<\/p>\n

they will find great improvements. According to Adaptation (AF) Project document, land degradation is one of the main environmental challenges constraining agricultural productivity and food and<\/p>\n

nutrition security in Lesotho. Soil erosion and desertification have been aggraded by recurrent draughts, rapid population growth and increasing pressure<\/p>\n

on natural resources, as well as unsustainable land and natural resource management practices. Loss of ground cover on the high land range lands due to<\/p>\n

overstocking has resulted in excessive water runoff during mountain storms leading to flash flooding and sheet and gully erosion which is leading to loss<\/p>\n

of limited agricultural land. It is estimated that 4.5 million tons of soil is lost though soil erosion per year, thus reducing the productive capacity of the country\u2019s crop lands, range lands and impacting on biodiversity by changing and reducing habitat for wild species.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Lesotho<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Lesotho. In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district is no exception as agricultural lands, range lands and plants are seriously threatened by climate change. World Food Program (WFP) and the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation (MFRSC) had in 2017 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":6273,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,6,8,16],"tags":[233,246,245],"class_list":["post-6274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-files","category-homepage-english","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-lesotho","tag-lesotho"],"yoast_head":"\nMafeteng threatened by desertification - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mafeteng threatened by desertification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lesotho\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"430\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Mafeteng threatened by desertification\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\"},\"wordCount\":1103,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Lesotho\",\"Lesotho\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"files\",\"homepage-english\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\",\"name\":\"Mafeteng threatened by desertification - Lesotho\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":430,\"caption\":\"Mafeteng threatened by desertification\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Mafeteng threatened by desertification\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/\",\"name\":\"Lesotho\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification - Lesotho","description":"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification","og_description":"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","og_site_name":"Lesotho","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":430,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification","datePublished":"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification"},"wordCount":1103,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Lesotho","Lesotho"],"articleSection":["all news","files","homepage-english","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification","name":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification - Lesotho","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg","datePublished":"2021-11-26T09:03:28+00:00","dateModified":"2021-11-26T09:33:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"In Lesotho, desertification is a major problem more especially in the southern part of the country and Mafeteng district ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/sites\/62\/2021\/11\/img-61a0a9e653b41.jpg","width":720,"height":430,"caption":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/mafeteng-threatened-by-desertification#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Mafeteng threatened by desertification"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/","name":"Lesotho","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6274"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6274\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6274"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6274"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6274"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}