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King Letsie III recently met with FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu at the Maziene Palace in Maseru to discuss, among other issues, the severe food insecurity crisis in Lesotho.
His Majesty welcomed Dr. Dongyu and expressed gratitude for accepting the invitation to visit Lesotho.
The King described Dr. Dongyu’s visit as historic for Lesotho as it comes at a time when Lesotho is facing huge food security challenges due to food shortages. boy Causes drought.
The king noted that 700,000 Basotho, three-quarters of Lesotho’s 2.3 million people, could face severe famine this year due to drought.
On July 12, Prime Minister Sam Matekane declared a national food insecurity catastrophe for the next eight months, from last month to March 2025.
He therefore called on Lesotho’s development partners to get involved and help the country overcome this challenge.
During the meeting with Dr. Dongyu, His Majesty said 2024 is an important year for Lesotho as the country is celebrating and commemorating the 200th anniversary of the founding of the Basotho nation.
The King further said that the celebrations will be coupled with efforts to help accelerate the transformation of agri-food systems to end hunger and malnutrition.
The King added that he was encouraged by the passion and commitment shown by Dr. Dongyu and the FAO Country Team in carrying out their mission and looked forward to strengthening the collaboration to put Lesotho and Africa on a higher and different trajectory on nutrition and food security issues.
He also stressed the need to step up efforts to eradicate poverty and hunger, while also paying greater attention to ensuring better nutrition and mitigating the challenges posed by the effects of climate change.
King Letsie III further stressed the need to build the agricultural resilience of smallholder farmers to ensure sustainable food production.
He also noted that FAO plays a key role in enabling the Government and people of Lesotho to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, particularly the eradication of poverty and hunger.
Dr. Dong Yu expressed his deep gratitude and appreciation for the invitation and warm welcome.
He said his visit to Lesotho was to thank His Majesty the King for his continued support for his work as FAO Director-General and for his role in advocating for nutrition as FAO Special Goodwill Ambassador for Nutrition.
Dr. Dong Yu told the King that he would use the opportunity of this visit to strengthen FAO’s field presence in Lesotho, personally study the country’s shortcomings and strengths to mobilize the required support and develop concrete plans to provide the country with the required technical support through various programmes and projects.
The FAO Director-General also reiterated his commitment to supporting Lesotho’s efforts to improve and transform its agri-food systems and enhance rural livelihoods.
He reiterated the importance of effective water management projects for agritourism and aquaculture, and further recommended that the country build green cities and develop vertical farming systems to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis and increase adaptation and resilience.
In that regard, he was pleased to witness the signing of a letter of intent for FAO’s Green Cities Initiative and other technical cooperation programmes to assist the country.
His Majesty and Dr. Dong Yu agreed that 2024 will mark the beginning of a significant period of action and the start of a new era of accelerated growth and modernization.
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