Established in December 2007, the SGP Country Programme for Lesotho has been in operation for just over three years now. Teething problems for programme implementation are predominantly solved and the Country Project Portfolio is growing steadily.
Lesotho has a comparatively small NGO/CBO network with the majority of organizations focusing on social issues and only a smaller share addressing threats to the GEF SGP environmental focal areas. However, with the establishment of GEF SGP in Lesotho, the scenario is changing. This could be attributed to the simplicity of the SGP approach and the fact that it targets the grassroots as the users and custodians of the very resources that the GEF was established to protect. Furthermore, the beneficiaries see the programme as an opportunity to broaden their scope of work and to access additional resources in order to advance the country's environment and natural resources management agenda.
With the country demonstrating an escalating unemployment rate, declining agricultural productivity and one of the highest HIV and AIDS prevalence rates, more and more people are turning to nature - medicinal plants and other plants of economic value as well as woody shrubs - as a source of livelihood. With rapid urbanization, solid waste management has become a severe problem. This scenario is portrayed in the Country Project Portfolio and the distribution of projects across the SGP focal areas. The portfolio is currently comprised of sixteen (16) projects distributed as follows:
Even though the Country Programme is only two years into grant making, beneficiaries already appreciate the significance of its efforts in overall protection and conservation of the environment as well as natural resources. Among others, beneficiaries include herders, school children, HIV and AIDS infected and affected people, local communities within which projects are being implemented, and key stakeholders including local authorities, government and non-government institutions.
Activities to date have resulted in environmental as well as socio-economic benefits of local communities. With regard to biodiversity conservation, local communities have received training in the sustainable use of biological resources. The training included in-situ and ex-situ protection of endangered, threatened and other plants of medicinal and economic value and their rehabilitation. To this end, three (3) community botanical gardens and nurseries have been established to propagate and protect plant species of national significance, some of which have been declared as endangered and threatened and are legally protected through issuance of government gazettes.
Out of the five (5) biodiversity conservation projects, only one addresses agro-biodiversity through preservation of the gene pool of the indigenous Sesotho chicken. Lessons from this project have proved these indigenous chickens to be a critical link in poultry initiatives geared towards poverty alleviation and food security due to their resistance to disease and harsh climate conditions as well as low maintenance costs.
Land degradation projects on the other hand focus on rehabilitating land and reviving its productive use, uprooting alien and invasive species that have colonized overgrazed areas among other activities. Orchards were established on rehabilitated land and different species of aloe are planted for their use in cosmetics production. Over sixty (60) Basotho women and some men have been trained in aloe-based Vaseline making and were supported in creating businesses of production and sale of aloe-based cosmetics. Other activities include the construction of various soil and water conservation structures to protect cropland from being washed away by uncontrolled runoff. Herd boys, or herders as they are now referred to, who are a neglected group of society, are among the beneficiaries of the SGP during OP4.
Regarding persistent organic pollutants, activities have concentrated on solid waste management, with a focus on recycling of plastic and paper in particular. Furthermore, the project demonstrated significant efforts to scale up the greening of schools. One hundred (100) students and teachers from five (5) pilot schools benefitted from training on recycling of waste paper and plastic through the production of crafts. Some participating schools already generate income by selling white waste paper to recycling companies. Another initiative in this area is the production of ceiling panels from waste paper, waste plastic and aloe fiber. However, take off for this latter initiative has been slower than anticipated.
Other projects do not focus on a specific but rather address threats to more than one focal area. Examples in this regard include biogas production to address issues of waste disposal and the promotion of renewable energy technologies.
A member of the Matelile Tajane Community Development Trust, which serves more than 8000 villagers, says about biogas: "Before installation of the biogas digester, we spent about US$ 6000 annually on bottled gas to meet our energy needs for cooking and heating. This amount has been brought down to about US$ 1000 as we use several stoves during peak seasons while we have only one connection point for the biogas. Also, worrying about sewer removal and disposal of waste from the orchard and other biodegradable waste from the kitchen are a thing of the past. We are now able to provide credit to more of our member organizations, unlike in the past where we could cater for two or three organizations only per annum. Our only wish now is for SGP to help us bottle the gas in summer when production is high for use in winter when it is low, and also for sale."
Five (5) members of the community received hands-on training on construction and maintenance of the biogas system. Another example is environmental education for primary school students and local communities with an emphasis on planting of indigenous trees, shrubs and fruit trees. To this end, more that 5000 pupils and teachers from twenty (20) schools have been equipped with skills to become environmental stewards. The overall impact of these initiatives is yet to be fully determined as project implementation continues.
Contact:
Nthabiseng Elizabeth Majara, National Coordinator, GEF Small Grants Programme, Tel: (+266) 22313790, Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.