Planning non gef grant
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Project sustainability
- The LUCT has signed a Letter of Intent with the United Nations in Lesotho as a sign of and stablished partnership for the implementation of the sustainable development goals. Once the documentary is completed, all will be handed over to the SGP Secretariat for dissemination and in support of the continuity of the Green-A-Cattle Post campaign beyond the project life. Thus we wish to keep a set of the generated knowledge materials (full SGP copy right) for the LUCT library for continued use by the University Community. Through the LUCT CAMP initiative there will be deliberate effort to engage the participating schools in Mokhotlong to maintain engagement with herd-boys and peers to continuously monitor project results. Through the partnerships developed during the campaign the message generated will be kept alive.
Gender Focus
Looking after livestock, making decision on where they can graze and how the rangelands are managed rests with men as heads of household. With women increasingly resuming the role of household heads, it is often difficult for them have a say in land issues. There will be deliberate effort interview both men and women to get all perspectives and highlight the plight of women headed households in livestock farming.
Policy Influence
The Second National Strategic Development Plan (NSDP II) identifies agriculture and tourism as two of the four productive sectors anchoring the new path for growth for Lesotho. The project was implemented in Mokhotlong, the district earmarked for the second phase of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) which is also viewed as a growth accelerator. The focus of the project is on highlighting the critical role played by herders (herdboys) in sustainable management of land and water resources and wool and mohair production which is the mainstay of the economy of the district, making herders one of the strongest links in environmental sustainability for economic growth in Lesotho. Through the green-a cattle post campaign on which the documentary is based, key stakeholders including among others, the LHWP keen on safeguarding the water quality add life span of the proposed Polihali Dam; Lesotho Tourism development Corporation, the UNDP, the GEF Focal Point and the Department of Range Resources sat together to deliberate on the role of herders and possible strategies for their meaningful involvement in sustainable management of land and water resources. The documentary highlights the views of these stakeholders which intrinsically portrays their commitment to strengthening linkages and partnerships with herders and mountain communities in general in the management of the land and water resources in the highlands of Lesotho.
Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment
The introductory tour of the project site will be the make or break for the project and it is during this activity that the LUCT Team will make initial conduct with key stakeholders and role players. Through targeted meetings with district and local authorities and key institutions, public gatherings and one-on-one conversations, project objectives will be explained; roles and responsibilities laid out; expectations levelled out; and timelines agreed. There will be regular briefings to keep all involved on progress. At the helm of project implementation will be participating community associations and local authorities who will keep local communities informed of all project activities, over and above the SGP/Department of Range awareness activities.
Replication of project activities
The main objective of the project is to produce a documentary on the Green-A-Cattle Post Campaign being conducted in the Mokhotlong district as a strategy to highlight the critical role played by herd-boys in sustainable rangeland management. To keep the message alive among key stakeholders, Through focused meetings, community gatherings, workshops, the final products of the project will shared during and after the project completion. Through the SGP/Department of Range partnership, the videos will be featured in the weekly Ministerial programmes featured on the national television. The knowledge materials will also be placed on the SGP, LUCT and UNDP websites. Dissemination of the project results will further be augmented through the "Children as Media Producers" (CAMP) initiative aimed at enhancing involvement of students in writing news and feature stories, on the lives of mountain communities and SDGs in this regard.
Policy Impact
The overall objective of the project is to produce a documentary on the Green-A-Cattle Post Campaign being conducted in the Mokhotlong district as a strategy to highlight, to decision makers and key stakeholders and indeed the mountain communities, the critical role played by herd-boys in sustainable rangeland management. Necessarily, putting the herd-boys in the spotlight will make their voices herd and empower them to do their work with pride and thus endeavor to work even harder. The intention is that attention of development programmes and investments will be drawn to mountain communities, especially herd-boys as key role players in rangeland management.
Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods
The project focus is purely on production of a documentary on the Green-A-Cattle Post Campaign. Alternative livelihood activities that may be highlighted by the documentary will be the responsibility of the participating community associations and the broader SGP programme
Notable Community Participation
The target group is herders who are by and large young boys. The documentary will highlight the life of a herd-boy, his views and experiences in the management of land and water resources. Other youth groups will also be involved through interviews, and also through interactions with students in selected schools, particularly for the CAMP initiative
Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples
There are no indigenous people in Lesotho. However, herd-boys/herders a special and vulnerable group of society, by and large illiterate with limited exposure to modern technologies and thus labeled as backward by many. The whole process will be conducted in the local language: meetings, public gathering, interviews and all interaction with stakeholders. There will also be extended stays in the cattle post areas, for interaction with herders/herd-boys in their comfort zone.
Capacity - Building Component
There inadequacies in the number of sets of equipment required for the project. The intention is to avoid at all costs, interruption of the University?s educational and other programmes that require use of the equipment. The University is already struggling to rollout the CAMP initiative as it requires use of the same equipment for extended periods outside University premises. Through the project, state of the art equipment will be procured to ensure that execution of the project is not hindered by non-availability of equipment.
Inovative Financial Mechanisms
Through focused meetings, community gatherings, workshops, the final products of the project will shared during and after the project completion. Through the SGP/Department of Range partnership, the videos will be featured in the weekly Ministerial programmes featured on the national television. The knowledge materials will also be placed on the SGP, LUCT and UNDP websites. Dissemination of the project results will further be augmented through the CAMP initiative.
Project Results
- A crew of 11 members (5 women, 6 men) from various disciplines of the University participated in the process for the production of the documentary. The overall documentary was shot by 3 lecturers in the film stream assisted by 20 students (12 boys and 8 girls). For the majority this venture was an educational and an eye opening experience as this was their first visit to the mountain region and more especially to the cattle post areas. For a few days they experienced the life of a herd boy. Many received a crash course on horse riding as this was a requirement for hard to reach areas. This the herd boys provided whole heartedly and more than 10 horses were hired for the purpose, providing some income for the owners.
- Because of the rugged terrain and difficulty to access some of the targeted sites and disruption of the shooting schedule by snowfall, only two of the 4 targeted sites were covered in photography and videography. A 30 minutes and 5 minutes videos have been produced and are being reviewed by stakeholders for further fine-tuning. The videos capture: the views of key stakeholders (UNDP, LTDC, National GEF Focal Point, Lesotho Highlands Water Project, Department of Range Resources, Local Authorities and CSOs) on the critical role played by mountain communities, particularly grazing associations and herders, in natural resources management and a pledge of their commitment to strengthen involvement of these communities in upcoming developments in the region; and the before and after scenarios of the campaign and the views of the herders themselves on what support they need to do their work and the impact of their work on rangeland resources wool and mohair production
- LUCT?s capacity has been enhanced through acquisition of film equipment for the production of the documentary that will, on completion of the project support the rollout of the Children as Media Producers (CAMP) Lesotho programme. With this capacity, LUCT will strengthen the participation of high school students in writing news and feature stories, especially on SDGs.
