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Lesotho facing devasting effects of drought: WFP

Xinhua, September 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

Lesotho is facing the devastating effects of three successive crop failures, compounded by a litany of socio-economic adversities as a result of a severe drought, the World Food Program (WFP) said on Friday.

The latest WFP report cited the results of the 2014/15 Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment Committee as saying that the food insecurity is deteriorating in the kingdom for 464,000 people - an increase of 16,000 people from the previous season.

Of those 464,000, a total of 284,000 are being supported through government safety nets such as school feeding, cash for land rehabilitation activities, child grant and pension for the elderly, the report said.

This leaves a total of 180,000 people in need of food assistance between August 2015 and March 2016, said the report.

Less arable land is being cultivated for food as a result of weather conditions and poverty, with a 19 percent reduction in land cultivated in 2015 compared to 2014, according to the report.

In May 2015, results of the crop production assessment by the Lesotho Bureau of Statistics also showed that the production of maize dropped by 14 percent, sorghum by 62 percent and wheat by 44 percent.

Although 80 percent of the population is engaged in agricultural activities in rural areas, this only contributes to about seven percent of the GDP, down from 12 percent in 2001 and 20 percent in 1983, the results showed.

A large proportion of poor rural households do not have access to agricultural land, and many of those who own land do not have the necessary agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and high-yield seeds, the report said.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change characterizes Lesotho as being one of the countries highly vulnerable to the impact of climate change.

Already, droughts affect harvest yields and cause significant loss of livestock. It is anticipated that the climate will become warmer and drier, and that droughts and floods will become both more frequent and more intense, the WFP warned. Endit