Makatleho Mohapi
The months of October, November and December 2015, will for many years remain in the minds of many people in Lesotho and indeed, the entire southern African region.
This was when the El Niño weather phenomenon made a cruel demonstration of how it could easily paralyse economies and impoverish countries that depend on farming but fail to invest in resilient systems that support agriculture when climatic hazards strike.
In Lesotho, it was clear the majority of farmers became helpless in the face of extreme conditions—a situation that will see many facing food shortages until the next harvest in 2017 provided there are favourable weather conditions.
Agriculture and Food Security Deputy Minister, ‘Mamosa Molapo says Lesotho learnt hard lessons during the devastating drought which the government has since said is the country’s worse in four decades.
“The El Niño drought has taught us that we need to be climate-smart and take food production to another level. We have seen severe weather conditions that dried our sources of water and left us struggling for water to drink,” Ms Molapo says.
Many farmers became helpless bystanders while in some areas water-related diseases wreaked havoc.
“It was a big statement coming from mother-nature and indeed, we need to talk about this. We know that the droughts have been frequent and that there is evidence enough to show that the climate has changed. We also need to change the way we interact with the climate and the environment if we have to survive future adverse weather conditions,” Ms Molapo adds.
She says Lesotho continues to face food-security challenges despite introducing programmes such as Block Farming and others that targeted vulnerable households with agricultural inputs and knowledge on climate-resilient farming techniques and technologies.
In the 2012 drought, the ministry, working with partners, introduced resilience programmes which provided inputs support and capacity development on conservation agriculture, home gardening and nutrition targeting communities, lead farmers and extension services.
Ms Molapo says there is need to improve these support mechanisms to ensure they really make communities resilient to extreme conditions.
“We need to challenge ourselves and ask whether the mechanisms we put in place managed to help communities during the El Niño peak period. When we talk of the ability to withstand shocks, what do we mean and what ability is there in the event that communities plant their crops and they fail to germinate because of the heat or floods?” says Ms Molapo.
She explains one of the areas that needs the ministry to focus on is helping communities understand which agricultural activities are suitable for each area.
“We have a challenge when it comes to farmers who want to continue growing maize in areas that cannot fully support such production. For instance, the soil and climate of the southern districts dictates that farmers should concentrate on drought-resistant crops such as fodder and also production of a certain breed of livestock.”
Ms Molapo further says the ministry, through its research department, has done some studies on short-cycled seed varieties and animals that can be promoted to ensure early harvesting, particularly in areas frequently affected by climatic hazards.
A well-organised crop-production structure needs to be supported by good water harvesting facilities, which should be developed in strategic areas.
“We need to prioritise water-harvesting programmes so as to store a lot of water in preparation for the hard times to come. Irrigation is key in Lesotho,” she adds.
Ms Molapo explains how investing in protected agriculture (greenhouses) would positively flip the food insecurity situation that has persisted in Lesotho for decades.
“With greenhouses, we can also nurture intensive agriculture that is sensitive to peoples’ nutritional needs.”
She further adds Lesotho needs a Nutrition Policy as a matter of urgency, which would, among other benefits, guide the establishment of nutrition structures. These would incorporate food fortification processes, provide nutrition-related services and fortified foods to treat various malnutrition-related illnesses.