His Majesty King Letsie III has called for urgent collaboration to unlock the full potential of Lesotho’s agricultural sector, emphasising the critical need to enhance food security and nutrition across the nation.
This appeal was made during a high-level dialogue held at Avani Maseru on August 6, 2024.
As the FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador Champion for Nutrition, King Letsie III highlighted the importance of strategic partnerships in fostering a robust food production system.
He urged the United Nations’ agricultural agencies, including Dr. Donald Brown, Associate Vice President of the Programme Management Department at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) Director-General Dr. Qu Dongyu, and Valerie Guarnieri, Assistant Executive Director for Programme Operations at the World Food Programme (WFP), to collaborate with Lesotho in this critical mission.
“Engagement and cooperation are essential in supporting our efforts to create vibrant and sustainable food systems in our country. As we commemorate 200 years of Basotho’s existence as a nation, the month of August has been dedicated to ‘food and agriculture,” His Majesty stated.
Reflecting on the lessons of the past, King Letsie III noted that Basotho have historically prioritised agriculture as a vehicle for long-term wealth, enabling the nation to feed itself and export surplus produce.
His Majesty emphasised that the government, through the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security, and Nutrition, will be actively engaged in various agricultural activities and collaborations with different stakeholders to address key issues in food production and to revive the sector into a robust backbone of the nation’s economy.
“In pursuit of agricultural investment, high-level engagement must unlock our country’s potential to provide sufficient food for its people,” the King said.
He also called upon the agricultural sector to realise the aspirations outlined in the National Strategic Development Plan II (NSDP II), which emphasises the commercialisation of agriculture to create a globally competitive, inclusive, and business-oriented sector that generates wealth, decent employment, and improves the lives of Basotho.
The King stressed the importance of community involvement in agriculture and nutrition as part of the broader development system. He also called for creative approaches and expanded agricultural financing as key catalysts for growth in the sector, urging financial institutions to prioritise agriculture despite the perceived risks.
“To achieve the set goals and strategies, we need to expand agricultural finance, which is identified as the key catalyst for growth in agriculture and must be addressed urgently,” he added.
King Letsie III further emphasised the need for private sector involvement and the development of diversified mechanisms to enhance productivity, which would drive activity and growth in agriculture.
He called on international organisations to collaborate with Basotho in transforming the agricultural sector to enable Lesotho to become self-sufficient.
“We are in desperate need of means and tools to lift ourselves out of poverty and improve our food security. It is the responsibility of every citizen to play a role in strengthening our food security, agriculture, and nutrition,” he concluded.
The dialogue also featured contributions from other high-level participants, including Delekazi Mokebe, CEO of the First National Bank and spokesperson for the Bankers Association of Lesotho, who addressed the role of banks in providing credit to farmers.
She affirmed that banks are committed to supporting agriculture through both short- and long-term loans, emphasising the success stories of farmers who have benefited from such funding.
Minister of Finance and Development Planning, Dr Retšelisitsoe Matlanyane, underscored the importance of aligning micro-economic policies with market-driven objectives to achieve sustainable goals in agriculture.
She also highlighted the need for innovative policy structures and financing instruments to ensure the flow of investment into the agricultural sector.
The dialogue served as a platform for various stakeholders to reaffirm their commitment to transforming Lesotho’s agricultural landscape, with the hope that collaborative efforts will yield a more prosperous and food-secure nation.
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