Component 1. Promoting Climate Smart Agricultural Practices and Advisory Services.

Component 1 aims at strengthening the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to adjust and modify their production systems to minimize the potential future impacts from climate variability. The overall goal is to enhance climate resilience through solutions that improve soil health, increase water use efficiency, and increase farm productivity and crop diversification. The component focuses on: (i) scaling-up the adoption of climate-smart agriculture technologies by farmers and enhancing farm management practices aimed at improving soil health, water-use efficiency, crop diversification, and farm productivity.

 (ii) rehabilitation and modernization of irrigation infrastructure to promote a more efficient use of surface water accompanied with a more sustainable use of groundwater, leading to improved access and availability of water at the farm level; and (iii) improving access to climate and market advisory services through Information and Communication Technology, thereby strengthening farmers’ adaptation and resilience.

The proposed project activities funded by the project involve the following sub-components:

Sub-component 1.1 Capacity Building in CSA practices

This subcomponent focuses on providing hands-on training and increasing knowledge of farmers, extension staff as well as agro dealers in climate smart agricultural technologies. The training covers a broad spectrum of CSA practices, including, inter alia, adoption of improved varieties that are climate-resilient, short-maturing and drought and heat resistant; better residue management; agroforestry, integrated soil fertility management, crop diversification and mixed farming.   

Sub-component 1.2 Rehabilitation and Modernization of Irrigation Infrastructure

The aim of this sub-component is to increase climate resilience and productivity in areas of high agricultural potential, through improved water use efficiency and increased access to irrigation. Given the critical need for irrigation in Lesotho, the Government of Lesotho has requested Bank support for irrigation under SADP II in parallel with the preparation of an Irrigation Master Plan under original SADP. Sub-component 1.2 has three major activities.

Sub-component 1.2 (a) Support to rehabilitation of the existing infrastructure

Sub-component 1.2 (b) Support to the investments defined by ongoing National Irrigation Master Plan.

Sub-component 1.2 (c) Capacity building of farmers and extension staff

Sub-component 1.3 Support in implementation of other CSA technologies

Sub-component 1.3 (a) Development of Lesotho Soil Information System

Sub-component 1.3 (b) Establishment of a State-of-art Laboratory  

Sub-component 1.4 Integrated Climate, Weather and Market Advisory Services 

Under this component SADP II will finance the development of real-time Agro weather forecasting and marketing information system and their dissemination tools by (i) developing a climate-smart, Agro weather and market information system and advisories; and (ii) building institutional and technical capacity for agrometeorological observation and forecasting, agricultural statistics collection and analyses, and market advisory services. By translating climate information into actionable knowledge, Agro weather tools will improve farmers’ long-term capacity for adopting CSA technologies, managing weather shocks and climate risks, and sustaining agricultural production under changing climatic conditions. Support for climate-smart, Agro weather and market information system and advisories will involve:

Sub-component 1.4 (a) Digitizing Agricultural Statistics  

Sub-component 1.4(b) Segmenting and registering farmers and value chain stakeholders.

Sub-component 1.4 (c) Developing Lesotho Agro-weather tool and delivery of Integrated Market Advisory and Information Services