2011

SEKONYELA L.A 09/09/11 AGR 312

200901065

[FOOD SECURITY]
ASSIGGNMENT 1 DUE ON THE 09/09/11

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INTRODUCTION

Food security refers to access by all people at times to sufficient food for an active and healthy life. It can also be defined as the food that is available at all times to which every individual have access that is nutritionally adequate in terms of quality, quantity and variety(ROME DECLARATION OF 1996). Food insecurity however means that food is not available and accessible to every person at all times.

FOOD INSECURITY There is no food security in Lesotho because of several problems that prevails in the country; Lesotho portrays a high level of undernourishment: in 2001 one out of four persons was undernourished. The situation has not changed significantly from 1990-92, benchmark period of the World Food Summit (WFS) and the Millennium Declaration (MD) to 1999-2001. Nonetheless, there is less undernourishment in Lesotho than in Southern Africa and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Lesotho has very poor land-use planning measures. This is characterized by unplanned human settlements, particularly in the urban and peri-urban areas. A lot of settlements in these areas are situated on the 9% arable land, further decreasing its potential for agricultural production. As these areas are unplanned, they also tent to be overcrowded with no space for basic services such as roads, and they are vulnerable to high-risk environmental and health problems.
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However, equitable distribution of land has been a key traditional strength of land tenure and livelihoods in Lesotho. But there is not enough arable land to be distributed on an equitable basis. About 40% of all households, and 30% of rural households, have no fields. Those who do have fields generally hold very little: usually one or two fields totaling one or two hectares. Typical holdings where people have fields at all are inadequate for anything approaching household food self sufficiency with the agricultural method prevailing in the country.

Moreover, there is no large land-owning class with extensive farms whose redistribution or better use would enhance overall food security. The contribution of farming to food security, though still important, is gradually declining. Decades of agricultural development projects have failed to reverse this trend. Increasingly, other economic activities indirectly dependent on land access and tenure security must be the basis for food security.

Apart from the natural constraints, food insecurity problems in Lesotho have been associated with various institutional problems and mismanagement (FAO, 2001). In particular, a number of direct interventions in the sector by the government and external donors as well as weak institutional capacity and misguided policies have all worked against agricultural development and thus contributed to the food insecurity problem.

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FOOD SECURITY On the other hand, to improve on food security the government of Lesotho has embarked on a process of systematically putting in place programmes and strategies aimed at addressing the problem of widespread poverty in the country. It is for this reason that it developed the following policy framework documents through a consultative process: National Vision: a long term perspective plan that will guide the development process in Lesotho. Poverty Reduction Strategy (PRS): aimed at operationalizing the National Vision. Agriculture Sector Strategy: establishes a development path for the agriculture sector. Food Security Policy: promotes hunger reduction Adoption of National Goals and Objectives for the next three years linked to MDGS. To alleviate the food crisis, the Lesotho Food and Nutrition Council, presently known as Lesotho Food and Nutrition Coordinating Office (FNCO) was given the task of ensuring food security, surveillance and Early Warning as well as Skill promotion at the village level (Tola, 1987). Currently FNCO is housed under the Prime Ministers office and its role is to coordinate food and nutrition programmes within the country, provides food and nutritional data for programme managers, planners and policy makers about cases of malnutrition and rehabilitation.

However, its role is not only limited to surveillance but also plans appropriate packages of food and nutrition interventions as well as monitoring their implementation and impact in reducing malnutrition. It should be noted however that it does not implement instead it advises and
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monitors implementation thus leaving decision making at the discretion of technocrats who in most cases have other priorities. For instance, instead of letting NGOs and donors provide homogeneous food baskets for the vulnerable groups, FNCO can indicate to the donors, the varying nutritional and health requirements for various groups.

Also, physical indicators of climatic conditions are the primary constituents of early warning systems in Lesotho. The indicators can be divided between meteorological and biological systems. The primary data used for these information products include daily rainfall, daily maximum temperature, recent rainfall, expected rainfall. This information is important for making calculated crop estimates and used as a basis for agricultural prospects.

The Government proposes to develop the legal framework and the administrative guidelines for land use and physical planning in urban and rural areas. Guiding principles will be set for the major land use categories agriculture, forestry, grazing, settlement, industry and mining, and water storage. The rationalization and restructuring of land use and physical planning will be followed through in order to integrate and harmonize the work of the agencies.

In the budget speech to the nation for the fiscal year 2010/2011, the Minister of finance pointed out that still on Agriculture, there is a need to address through a concerted campaign of scientists, researchers, chemical companies and the Ministry of Agriculture the problem of the increasing Nut

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Sedge grass(known in some place of Lesotho as Motaba-tabane) which is increasingly taking over our limited arable land.

He further added that Research shows that this grass is difficult to eliminate and grows very fast when there is moisture on the ground. It is a tough competitor for ground resources and its roots produce substances that are harmful to plants. Valuable arable land is being taken over by this weed. Its scientific name is Cyperus Rutundus. Perhaps country Development Partners can join in the campaign. We need land to grow food, he emphasized. (Budget Speech to Parliament, 2011/2012)

More probably, in order to make the schemes sustainable the new approach involves: site selection based on the community action plans, development of water user associations, frequent visits by extension staff, matching grants for initial investment while replacement costs are borne by farmers. In addition the technologies promoted include water harvesting techniques, small dams and collection reservoirs, fuel, solar or windoperated pumps, stream diversions and water control structures. Special emphasis is given to the involvement of women (who by default are the majority of participants) and strengthening their role in irrigated agriculture.

CONCLUSION Looking in depth the food security of Lesotho need to be seriously improved, because with this food insecurity prevailing matters within the borders of the country good health and economic development will not be attained any soon. So government policies towards maintaining good health through improved food security should be implemented to achieve
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food availability, accessibility, quality, quantity and adequacy at all times to every citizen.

In Lesotho, Agrarian reform and rural development fit well within the Poverty Reduction Strategy. The strategies for enhancing food security, employment creation, governance and infrastructure development do contribute to revitalization of rural communities for improved livelihoods. All what is required for sustainable development with a human face is serious implementation of the PRS and close monitoring of results.

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REFERENCES

Kingdom of Lesotho National Report, International Conference on Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (ICARRD). Brazil, 7-10 March 2006. Mashinini, V. (2001) Managing Communal Vegetable Production in Lesotho: The case of Community Gardens. Africanus. 31(2): 1-16.

Mohammed J. D. Futho; and Makhata H. (2002) Co-operative Potato Research and Demonstration in Lesotho. NUL, Maseru, Lesotho.

Thahane. T. Timothy. (2011/2012). Economic Transformation and Diversification Towards Sustainable Economic Growth and Employment. Budget Speech to Parliament for the Fiscal year 2011/2012. Maseru February 2011.

ROME DECLARATION OF 1996.