Project Detail

Narrative label for sorghum land race (Seqhobane se Sesoeu)

Majantja Temong Farmers Association proposes to apply agro-ecology approach to the sorghum value chain. The output of the intervention will be Narrative labeling concept of the slow food Movement on sorghum value chain. Outcome of the intervention is to contribute to the transitioning of the food system in Lesotho and the agricultural supply chains in their entirety but also consumers. The intervention will take into account production and narrative labeling of sorghum, the related system gaps in the sorghum value chain for smallholder farmers in Phamong area will be addressed, since sorghum can be planted in the valleys and perform well even under climate change stress.
The project focused on mobilization of Association membership to unite and connect as producers and to work on narrative labeling of their products (e.g. sorghum meal, mmela) with a view to facilitate to access alternative markets. The Association is strongly supported by RSDA which completed climate risk and economic feasibility study for sorghum. The project also seeks to strengthen understanding of the history of the sorghum seed & product as a whole and farming
The primary objective and specific objectives
The primary objective of the project is to increase production and quality of sorghum land race (Seqhobane se sesoeu) and establish narrative labelling of the product.
The specific objectives of the proposed project are as follows:
? Strengthened capacity and awareness of the producer organizations to promote slow sorghum.
? A multi-stakeholder Forum for Narrative Labelling of sorghum Products from Lesotho Mountains to be facilitated.
? Sorghum production protocol for narrative labeling implemented that would enhance the production and quality of sorghum land race.

Project Snapshot

Grantee:

Majantja Temong Farmers Association

Country:

Lesotho

Area Of Work:

Biodiversity
CapDev

Operational Phase:

OP6 - Y6 (Jul 20-Jun 21)

Grant Amount:

US$ 40,000.00

Co-Financing Cash:

Co-Financing in-Kind:

US$ 40,000.00

Project Number:

LSO/SGP/OP6/Y6/CORE/BD/2021/31

Start Date:

5/2021

End Date:

5/2023

Status:

Satisfactorily Completed

Project Characteristics and Results

Inovative Financial Mechanisms

- Farmers will train other farmers who are engaged in producing similar products (training of trainers). - There will be regular feedback and report after every implementation step - Monthly meetings and virtual meetings (minutes and discussions). - Majantja Temong will host exchange visits for its members - All news media will be used to share information across the country.

Emphasis on Sustainable Livelihoods

By lobbying public institutions to review their food procurement policy especially for schools, it is possible to create demand for nutritious, locally produced food. This has the double benefit of increasing dietary variety and knowledge amongst pupils while at the same time generating demand for locally produced goods thus aiding in the generation of income for farmers and strengthening livelihoods for rural inhabitants. As informed eaters, today?s children will help make a positive impact about the importance of Mountain products and slow Food and safeguarding the environment for well into the future.

Significant Participation of Indigenous Peoples

Lesotho does not have indigenous people as per international definitions. However, through all the proposal development steps, communication and discussions were largely in Sesotho and English to a lesser extent particularly during joint sessions with South African counterparts.

Project sustainability

Majantja Temong FarmersAssociation have, for some time, been promoting agro-biodiversity through propagation of traditional land race/ open pollinated seeds, sorghum being one of them. Through the project, there is confirmation that agro-biodiversity conservation can not only contribute to the resilience of Lesotho's food systems but can also be a channel through which alternative markets can be accessed by local smallholder farmers. Through buyer - seller forums, seed fares and campaigns for lobbying public institutions t review their food procurement policy especially for schools, demand has been created for locally produced food products. Continuity of these activities will contribute to the sustainability of the achieved results over the long-term.

Planning gef grant

N/A

Planning non gef grant

RSDA through its partnership with Denmark Lesotho Network has secured funding for climate proofing agriculture. By affiliation to RSDA, Majantja Temong Farmers Association will benefit from this initiative that is meant to safeguard agricultural production in selected locations within which RSDA operates including the Phamong area where Majantja is located.

Promoting Public Awareness of Global Environment

The narrative labelling process involves a series of multistakeholder forums along the value chain of the targeted products. Eat-ins and buyer seller forums will also be organized for promotion of public awareness about the project. Advantage will also be taken, of events organized by others to reach far and wide.

Policy Influence

The process for narrative labelling of sorghum, which is yet to be concluded, has involved organization of a number of multi-stakeholder engagement workshops and dialogues. The dialogues brought together smallholder farmers, policy makers, public and private sectors and development partners to name a few. The forums were organized to create awareness among the stakeholders in the product value chain and to also among other things, lobby public institutions to review their food procurement policies especially for schools and correctional services. The lobbying and negotiations are continuing and up to this point there have been positive responses from some quarters, that are yet to yield positive impact on food procurement policies for targeted products, sorghum in this regard.

Gender Focus

The project activities and interventions will engage the work for both men, women, and youth. The element of women empowerment and gender equality will be ensured. The intervention will use the Gender Action Learning Systems (GALS) tool in the implementation of the project introduced by RSDA in 2018. The intervention trained peer educators among the members of Majantja Temong to advance gender issues within the association. GALS is a flexible but structured community-led empowerment methodology which works with both women and men to help them to gain more control over their lives. It offers a methodological approach that applies Participatory Action Learning techniques to a suite of methodologies aimed at promoting a better understanding of the unequal power relations between men and women and how these inequalities can have an impact on food insecurity. It also seeks to facilitate the identification of concrete solutions that can reduce the work burden of women and girls while fostering collective responsibility at the household and the community level to addressing gender inequalities within the area of food security and sustainable agriculture. The underlying goal of GALS is to improve the gender equity of intra-household decision-making processes and in doing so improve how households organize and manage resources across the farm and in off farm activities while seeking to ensure that the benefits from this work are equitably distributed to all household members. The reason being women and youth are the highly affected and most vulnerable groups.

Linkages gef projects

The project site is located in the Mohale's Hoek District in one of the three community councils (Lithipeng Community Council) covered by the Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change (RVCC) project funded by the GEF. The RVCC has now been completed but the Association as an organization and as individual farmers benefitted from the capacity build around adaptation to and mitigation of climate change; and engagement in alternative livelihood and nature-based income generation activities such as beekeeping.

Project Results

- Association is one of the 3 grantees implementing a project under SGP-MPP initiative. Through its affiliation to Rural Self-help Development Association and collaborating with Slow Food Lesotho and South Africa, a series of awareness raising campaigns and multistakeholder meetings were organized bringing together small-holder farmers, government institutions responsible for agriculture and marketing, Chef?s Alliance, and the business community. These forums paved way for definition of value chain for sorghum and narrative labelling for this product, which was documented by Eugene Casalis, in 1861, as an important crop to Basotho culture and tradition. Through these forums, the Association has come to be known as the hotspot for sorghum production in the country.

- To re-ignite people?s interest in practicing the culture of ?Letsema? (collective work), encouraging seed saving and tasting the first crop of the season, the Association organized a sorghum harvest ceremony and village Eat-in that attracted policy makers, chefs, development partners, farmer groups and other key stakeholders. A Documentary was produced thereof, titled ?Lesotho sorghum story ? From Seed to Table,? available online.

- The organization is now a full member of Mountain Partnership, a registered Slow Food Community and has been assisted to register sorghum for Slow Food Narrative labelling.

- Amidst unfavorable weather conditions for 2021/2022 season, the Association produced 14 tons of sorghum from 234 acres, more than 70% of producers being women, through buyer-seller forums that have enhanced access to markets for the sorghum produce. It has Always been a huge challenge for us each season after harvesting, but having this coordination with processors, our worries have ended because now we plant according to suppliers needs? ? says the leader of the Association. Estimated yield from the 2022/2023 season is 36 metric tons from the 240 acres planted.

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