Attachments
SITUATION ANALYSIS
Description of the crisis
Lesotho is experiencing severe food insecurity due to consecutive La Niña and El Niño phenomena from 2021 through 2023. The 2021/2022 and 2022/2023 rainfall seasons, marked by mild to moderate La Niña events, led to excessive rainfall and below-average crop production. The 2023/2024 El Niño further exacerbated the situation with dry conditions and heatwaves, significantly impacting crop yields. Despite increased planting efforts in 2023/2024, harvests were still below normal, causing maize prices to rise and increasing market reliance. The national crop performance for maize decreased by about 52% from the previous year, with current yields expected to last only three months in most regions. This decline led to increased food prices, and worsened food access for vulnerable households. Additionally, substitute food commodities like sorghum production also declined by over 86% in the 2023/24 period, further intensifying food insecurity and making it harder for households to find an alternative.
According to the LVAC report, 2024, as of June 2024, half of Lesotho’s ten districts were in crisis (IPC Phase 3) for food security, while the other five were classified as stressed (IPC Phase 2). The entire country is expected to reach crisis level (IPC Phase 3) by October 2024, highlighting the urgent need for action to save lives and protect livelihoods. According to the latest reports, an estimated 699,049 individuals in both urban and rural areas are facing food insecurity, highlighting the widespread food needs across Lesotho. An estimated 699,049 people facing food insecurity and requiring 59,549 tons of food, valued at M1,149,302,744. Furthermore, the food insecurity negatively impacted the already fragile household with chronic malnutrition, with a stunting rate of 33.2% among children under five and widespread micronutrient deficiencies, including high anemia rates. The situation led to an outbreak of livestock diseases, crop failures, significant increases in the prices of staple foods and further worsened the country’s food insecurity situation. The southern districts of Mafeteng and Mohale’s Hoek recorded cases of blue tongue disease outbreak which resulted in the death of over 300 sheep and approximately 1,810 livestock.
The Government of Lesotho took action by declaring a state of emergency and appealed to local and international development partners for immediate assistance. In response, a National Drought Response Plan was issued in July 2024, which identified both short-term and long-term humanitarian requirements to alleviate the effects of the drought. The Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) has been on the front lines, working to ensure effective aid distribution and strengthen community resilience.
The ongoing food insecurity crisis forced many families to resort to negative coping mechanisms for their survival. According to recent reports, at least 51% of households managed to keep their food consumption patterns stable, while 49% engaged negative coping strategies in response to food shortages. This negative coping mechanism were mostly adopted in rural households where many households reduced the frequency of their meals per day, opted for less expensive brands and decreased the portion sizes of their meals in order to meet their family’s nutritional needs.
Furthermore, in terms of livelihood coping mechanisms, the data reveals that 42% resorted to stress coping strategies, while 7% found themselves in crisis situations, and 4% took emergency measures. Among the most prevalent stress coping strategies were borrowing money to purchase food or acquiring food on credit, while other families withdrew their children from school, prioritizing immediate food needs over education and certain households consumed their seed stocks, which jeopardizes their future agricultural productivity. Still other households reported selling their last female livestock, a critical resource that poses a significant threat to the sustainability of their livelihoods.
To date, the Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS), with the support of IFRC and other partners contributed to the drought response by:
- LRCS officially launched the drought operation in June present were IFRC delegates, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, DMA executive and representatives of key stakeholders (District Administrator, Local government, Forestry, Agriculture, Social Development, DMA and Media houses) from the five districts.
- As part of technical support, LRCS conducted 10 internal meetings within the 5 districts to support project roll out, supervision and planning. This also formed part of providing information and their roles about the project to the District Disaster Management teams.
- As of end October 2024, a total of 1,685 households (67%) received cash assistance out of 2,500. Follow up visits were done to ensure all that targeted households receive their cash in the districts.
- Promoted dissemination of cross cutting issues in areas of CEA, PGI and climate adaptation covering 2,500 households due to limited funding however more people will be reached as the operation scales up.
- The LRCS SG and the Disaster Manager participate in Humanitarian Coordination Team (HCTs) meetings both strategic and technical respectively.