US$3.5 million was quickly received from the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the Humanitarian Aid Department of the European Commission (ECHO) and the Governmentof Norway.
FAO has been working closely with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in implementing fairs in all 10 districts of the country. To start with 200 government officials were trained to stage the fairs. FAO and the government officials organized fairs in seven districts, while CRS - pioneers of the input trade fair concept in Africa - organized fairs in the remaining three districts.
"For many people in Lesotho, it is a matter of accessing the markets," explained Adam Weimer, CRS Lesotho's Food Security Programme Manager.
The average farmer in Lesotho grows 30% of their household food requirements and buys the other 70%. Most rely on remittances from family members, selling piece labor, or government labor programs. According to Zimudzi, "If you can tip that ratio around to buying 30% and growing 70% you can go a long way toward achieving food security in the country."
An added benefit to the input trade fairs is that they give a much-needed boost to local economies. "When you stay in Maseru," said Thabiso Lebese, a trader at a fair in Maputsoe, "you sell 1-2 spades a week. Here, I've sold ten already today and ten digging forks. And the item that has sold the best today has been watering cans."
The fairs also offer an incentive for local farmers who produce surplus seeds and other inputs, as they can be guaranteed a sizeable market. At the Mosala fair alone, the 420 customers spent vouchers totaling Maloti 90,000 (US$ 13,200).
The gathering of large numbers of people likewise are an opportune time to spread informative messages about HIV and AIDS awareness, conservation farming methods, and the popular circular, rock-walled kitchen gardens called "keyhole gardens."
Through the trade fairs, which end in mid-October, ten percent of all households in Lesotho will have accessed enough agricultural inputs – including 385 tonnes of seed - to prepare and plant 17,500 hectares of land. An estimated 5,600 tonnes of maize, sorghum, beans and other crops are expected to be produced from this assistance.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) will follow up the input trade fairs by providing food assistance to the same vulnerable farmers.
Zimudzi explained that FAO's fairs and WFP's food assistance complement each other. "They are both important, so that people don't have to make the choice: 'Do I eat this seed or plant it?'".
Source: FAO
To receive regular email alerts, contact us at updates@developmentprogram.org
Click here for Newsletter Archive |
