Lesotho Drought Appeal Report

Send a Cow report for Dolen Cymru

The Emergency Drought Appeal Project, Lesotho Send a Cow Lesotho: Background Send a Cow Lesotho supports nearly 3,000 beneficiary households in three northern districts to alleviate both social and economic poverty. Since the year 2000 the Send a Cow programme has been acknowledged by both direct and indirect beneficiaries as achieving the mission to give communities and families “the hope and the means to secure their own futures from the land”.

In most years, farmers in Lesotho harvest enough from field crops to feed their families and get by until the next harvest.

However a devastating drought during the 2015/16 planting season left Lesotho, as a nation, struggling to feed its people and whole communities hungry. On average, 75% of the harvest failed and the majority of small-holders were unable to plant cereal crops – the most important being maize.

Without rains, permanent springs dried up, areas of wetland were reduced and ponds used by farmers for crop irrigation became silt - leaving farmers with even less access to useable water. Without food or a means to generate income families were struggling for survival and so Send a Cow launched an emergency drought appeal to raise additional Malehlenya Tsenoli (Season 2015/2016) – 100% maize crop failure

funds to provide more support to 400 households we were already working with in the Leribe District to build their resilience and ability to cope with the challenging climate.

Project Goal: To reduce the impact of drought to 400 households and build their resilience through provision of additional seeds, training and agricultural equipment to achieve food and income security.

Key objectives: 1. To provide additional drought resistant seeds to households to help them replant to provide a source of nutrition to families 2. Provide additional agricultural equipment to strengthen income generating activities such as fruit tree production 3. Provide additional training and support in climate smart practices to build confidence and ability for project groups to meet the challenges faced

Send a Cow & Dolen Cymru Dolen Cymru kindly agreed to support the emergency appeal for Send a Cow Lesotho through their own Anniversary Appeal which was additionally matched by a £10,000 grant from The Waterloo Foundation.

Dolen Cymru’s individuals, schools and community supporters responded incredibly generously, raising a total of £15,107.45. Over the past 12 months Send a Cow has successfully provided addttional support to 400 households in 12 groups in Leribe and through the matching Waterloo Foundation grant work with an additional 7 new community groups (293 households, 1,465 people) to become food and income secure for the long-term, and resilient to environmental shocks such as future periods of drought. The Send a Cow Project Report – April 2017 1

Lesotho team have delivered training in climate-smart agricultural practices for effective land management and sustainable utilisation of water and soil resources. The training has impacted the wider community, who were also able to attend trainings and benefit from the “pass-on” of skills and information from the households supported. They have also provided additional seeds so that families can replant and additional agricultural equipment to strengthen income generating activities. The investment of Dolen Cymru’s supporters in collaboration with the matched funding grant from the Waterloo to support drought impacted communities has been critical and we are pleased to be able to update on the activity undertaken. Thank you to all at Dolen Cymru.

Project Activities and Impact Seed Distribution and Increased Vegetable Production 400 households that Send a Cow were working with in Leribe received additional vegetable seeds (including cabbage, spinach, kale, carrots, beetroot, green beans and butternut squash ) to help them replant with the aim to increase production for family consumption, and generate income by selling surplus in the local market. £6,745 of the funding Dolen Cymru provided covered additional seed distribution. This included sugar bean seeds, a particularly nutritious and fast growing crop. Alongside this the matched grant released from the Waterloo Foundation provided another 293 households (seven community groups) with vegetable seeds. Combined with more sustainable practices and natural resource management, Send a Cow project farmers are starting to recover from the drought and rebuild their lives.

Project Farmer: Malehlenya Tsenoli

Malehlenya Tsenoli (Season 2015/2016) – 100% maize crop failure.

Malehlenya Tsenoli (Season 2016/2017) – with additional support.

The picture above left shows Malehlenya on her 9.5 acre field where she normally produces maize and sorghum. In the 2015/16 planting season, she only planted maize on two acres because of the drought and harvested nothing, a 100% loss.

Malehlenya Tsenoli (Season 2016/2017) – the

of surplus atinterventions the local market. additional made by Send a Cow Lesotho with Dolen Cymru support has built

resilience for many farmers.

With the support of Dolen Cymru, Waterloo Foundation matched funding and Send a Cow Lesotho, Malehlenya replanted again in season 2016/2017. The pictures above right and left show she has intercropped maize with pumpkin, and planted beans on the rest of her field. When harvested, the crop will provide improved nutrition for her family and surplus to sell at market.

Malehlenya has also planted vegetables in her compound, again for family consumption and the sale Project Report – April 2017 2

The additional seeds have provided families with diverse crops to eat and sell, helping families to feel more confident for the future. Independent research has shown us that 96% of groups that we work with bounce back from set-backs and with Dolen Cymru’s support, households across Leribe are on the road to recovery.

Farmers now have green peppers and green beans to sell

In addition to peppers and green beans, those same farmers are also producing butternut squash

Project Farmer: Lebohang Molomo

Lebohang Molomo (Season 2016/2017) – organically grown carrot crop.

Lebohang Molomo (Season 2016/2017) – organically grown tomato crop.

Lebohang Molomo, a farmer from Hajobo, Menkhoaneng Community, together with his neighbours, received training in vegetable production, was supplied with a variety of seeds, and has planted his vegetables following principles of sustainable organic agriculture, using locally sourced compost. Their gardens are thriving and families are resilient against future climate shocks.

Income Generating Activities Alongside supporting households to build family nutrition, a key focus has also been on building innovation in activities to provide other sources of income generation alongside crop production. Diversification is a key strategy in building resilience, providing households with a range of activities that support a sustainable livelihood. £6,982 of the funding provided by Dolen Cymru supporters was invested in additional agricultural equipment to build on activities already started by groups such as fruit tree growing and poultry rearing. Equipment provided includes budders and pruners to help families improve fruit tree production. By preserving the fruit grown, groups are adding value to their fruit crops alongside keeping food stored for family consumption throughout the year.

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The training groups have received in resource mapping and business skills has tapped into a real market awareness in the groups who have formed Cluster Level Associations (CLA’s) to form links with local businesses. The CLA acts as a managing body to help create new markets for produce from increased vegetable production, fruit and poultry rearing. Working in this way is helping the groups to lower production costs and increase efficiencies. The income raised is helping households to improve living standards by providing for essential household items but also to save money to invest in the future and ensure they are better able to cope with challenges such as drought and less at risk from relying on one form of economic activity.

To achieve food security and generate an income, farmers are raising poultry to provide eggs for home and household consumption.

Fruit Tree Planting in Leribe

From Peach Tree to Jars. “We used to throw away the seeds from fruit, now we save the seeds and grow them, which gives us more money. We are looking for ways to grow the ways we preserve fruit and sell it for income generation.”

Climate Smart Techniques Thanks to the Emergency Appeal and additional matching grant released through the Waterloo Foundation, Send a Cow Lesotho has been working with the 7 funded groups to resource map their water sources. The training focused on developing strategies on how best to protect water sources from external contamination and to also identify best practices to improve water retention and holding capacity. Focusing on both direct and indirect beneficiaries in the wider community, water resources have been mapped and sources protected, and strategies devised on how best to use these resources sustainably for vegetable irrigation and production. The mapping included not only permanent water sources such as springs and wetlands, but also how to conserve surface run-off. Households have been supported to work together to construct reservoirs for vegetable irrigation.

All seven community groups (293 households, 1,465 people) have been supported by Send a Cow Lesotho with materials to construct water storage facilities, and three groups were identified as needing water pumps and sprinkler irrigation systems, which were supplied OctoberDecember 2016.

At household level, families have dug small ponds to harvest surface run-off for vegetable irrigation and production.

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With a reliable supply of water for irrigation, families have been able to increase production, resulting in significantly improved nutrition and a reduction in hunger months.

Mamahlomola Monoto is a 57 year old widow from Menkhoaneng Community. Following training on water management, she dug a dam in her yard to capture surface run-off (above, left), and now has water to irrigate her vegetable garden. Mamahlomola now has enough food for herself and her granddaughter, and surplus to sell at the market.

Alongside these direct interventions from the matched funding, the additional £1380.45 provided by Dolen Cymru has supported the Send a Cow Lesotho team to provide training to the 400 households in Leribe on climate smart techniques, sharing the learning from the Waterloo Foundation activities and increasing a focus on activities like water harvesting so households are able to better protect their water resources.

Water harvesting activities as mitigation strategies against drought

Send a Cow Lesotho have also supported groups on the challenges of livestock feeding during the drought, negotiating free fodder seeds for all 400 households from Farm World, a vendor selling agricultural inputs.

This was timely as it enabled farmers to produce fodder for their livestock to graze while the rangelands had time to recover.

“The fodder shall help us increase livestock yield as currently our animals depend on the rangelands which are bare. We are not used to planting fodder due to lack of seeds but now we have them and we shall be able to meet the dietary requirements for our animals”. M alebohang Kori.

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Key impact achieved With funding from Dolen Cymru, the emergency drought appeal project has supported vegetable production, built on diversification of income generating activities and increased knowledge in climate smart techniques. The families have been able to increase their levels of production, sufficient for both household consumption and for the sale of surplus at the local market. The families supported have not only produced enough food to eat through the duration of the drought, but the whole community have also developed a range of coping mechanisms to improve and sustain their food and income security for the long-term.

Despite losing their beetroot crop because of the harsh conditions, Shadrack has been able to grow a successful crop of cabbages and is practising climate smart techniques such as drip irrigation and mulching his vegetable beds. “We are now able to conserve the soil and harvest the water, even during drought.”

Left: Members of Mpolokeng Kheola group cleaning their vegetable produce (green peppers and green beans).

Right: Mathabo Sekonyela and Mathabang Tlali on their way to Hlotse market, Leribe District.

The Mpolokeng Kheola group have grown a range of vegetables, including green peppers, green beans, spinach and butternut squash. Through vegetable sales at market, the group have so far managed to save R5,000.00, with plans to increase and diversify production as a community.

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Project Impacts from the Emergency Appeal u Training on climate change means farmers understand the issues and the impact on their lives, u u u u u

and what to do to sustain their agriculture production Provision of vegetable seeds has helped families to replant and successfully grow a range of nutritious vegetables for household consumption and to sell Climate smart techniques such as water harvesting are being adopted across the Leribe project encouraging wider copy farming across the community Income generating activities such as fruit tree growing have been strengthened through the provision of additional agricultural equipment 400 farmer households in Leribe continue to benefit from improved farming methods and sustainable agriculture with specific training sessions delivered to a further 293 households On-farm visits and follow-up visits have been carried out by Send a Cow Lesotho staff, to monitor family’s activities and progress.

In additional the following impacts have been achieved through the matched funding released by The Waterloo Foundation u Seven communities have improved water use efficiency for agriculture and copy farming is taking place across the community

u The seven new community groups formed, through training, seeds and irrigation inputs received, have worked successfully together to achieve sustainable vegetable and crop production for their household needs and surplus to sell at market u Resource mapping and protection of water sources has been achieved, with communities constructing water storage reservoirs, and run-off catchment ponds at household level u Placement of irrigation equipment for the remaining community groups has been completed

Thank you to all at Dolen Cymru Your fundraising total of £15,107.45 has been spent in full supporting our Emergency Drought Appeal Project, enabling families to grow food and secure their future livelihoods from the land.

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