Attachments
Description of the Event
Date when the trigger was met
2024-04-29
What happened, where and when?
According to the weather update for quarter 1 of 2024 issued by the Lesotho Meteorological Services, the persistent heatwaves and exceptionally high temperatures experienced between January and March 2024 have led to widespread dryness of crops across most fields. The continuous crop failures over the past seasons is exacerbated. The past two quarters have seen the same crop failure leading automatically to the high food prices. There are 41% of rural families spending more than half of their income on food while most of the families leave with low income. In two consecutive agricultural seasons (2021/2022 and 2022/2023), Lesotho experienced harsh climatic induced shocks such as hailstorms, pests and heavy rainfall/waterlogging in most parts of the country. On the other hands, the heavy rainfalls in late December 2023 and early 2024 led to waterlogged fields which resulted in crop failure. The inflation resulting from this crop failures or production failures have a direct incidence to the families already struggling with low income and other factors that make them more vulnerable to food insecurity.
Approximately, 325,000 individuals are experiencing the ramifications of the ongoing food insecurity based on IPC information, stemming from the enduring drought that has gripped the nation for years and increased the food insecurity situation. This figure represents approximately 22% of the population. Eight districts on the ten in Lesotho are under Integrated Food Security Phase Classification 3 (IPC 3), signifying a crisis state. Berea, Maseru, Mafeteng, Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing, Thaba Tseka, and Leribe areas. In these districts, access to adequate food and nutrition is severely compromised, necessitating urgent intervention and support measures to alleviate the hardship faced by affected communities.
Lesotho is experiencing another negative impact on seasonal production since October, dry condition with likelihood of severe impact to coming productions, further reduction of job opportunity, lower income, poverty and un-employment and inflation.
Lesotho Red Cross Society has been monitoring this situation and the dry spells of the recent seasons with the Government through their active Drought Early action protocol (EAP).
Following the seasonal outlook issued on October 19th, 2023, indicating the below average rainfall for OND, LRCS activated the EAP and supported the development and dissemination of early warning messages to over 10,000 individuals across Mafeteng, Mohale’s Hoek, Quthing, Thaba Tseka, and Qacha’s Nek. The second trigger was anticipated to be activated in January 2024, upon receipt of a report from the Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) confirming* below-average rainfall during the period of October, November, and December (OND). However, contrary to expectations, the LMS report revealed that rainfall during OND was actually above normal hence the trigger was not met.
Despite this report, weather monitoring revealed that 2023/2024 season was characterize by mixed performance influenced by El Nino drought conditions, include OND. A comprehensive weather monitoring was conducted by LRCS, DMA and LMS during the first quarter of 2024 which revealed a pattern of below-normal rainfall and recurrent heatwaves across the country from January to March. These adverse weather conditions resulted in significant crop losses and a subsequent increase in the prices of staple foods, particularly maize meal. Furthermore, the dry spell of previous years and its incidence on the agricultural capacity with reduced access to agricultural inputs on planted areas, affected income-earning among poor households who rely on agricultural labor opportunities.
In comparison with previous seasons, there was a decline in production of main staple food such as maize and sorghum in 2023/2024 season. This situation led to an increase in staple food prices which hinders households already in IPC3 situation and associated vulnerabilities to struggle further for food purchase in a low-income context. In the last two months, the prices of commodities such as maize have increased outrageously due to the general crop failure: 7% increase in April and from Government indications, the inflation will reach 22% increase by end of May. Maize being one of the basic family basket element, there is a likelihood of increased food insecurity and associated consequences such as other prices increased for Lesotho Flour Mills and derivate products in coming weeks. maize harvest.
It is against this background that Lesotho Red Cross request to launch a response intervention to mitigate the drought effects witnessed for the past season with an incidence on food insecurity for around 325,000 people that will certainly not be able to cope with the inflation in an already difficult context. Since OND, Government called for actions. The announcement of the production results and price increase brought Government to renew their call for assistance during the recent emergency coordination meeting