LESOTHO Meeting with Partners: “Deepening partnership for transforming Lesotho’s agrifood system to be an accelerator for economic growth and social development” Statement

Excellences,

Ladis and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

Aspirations, challenges and potential – this is what Lesotho represents for us as development partners. What has struck me since arriving in this beautiful mountain kingdom is the resilience of its people and the political will and passion of its leaders. These are essential ingredients for success, and are not always found in one country. This is what makes Lesotho exceptional.

The challenges facing the country are many, and daunting. Rising food insecurity and poverty threaten its sovereignty, and deeply affect the lives and livelihoods of its people – especially in the vast rural areas, and small holder farmers.

During the field visits I undertook yesterday, I have seen what private sector investment can do towards transforming Lesotho’s agrifood system. There is great potential for agribusiness development in Lesotho.

What is key for us as partners, is to facilitate policy dialogue where we can identify key enablers and public investments that can help unlock greater private sector investment along the entire agrifood value chain, with special emphasis on those commodities for which Lesotho has comparative and competitive advantage.

In that way Lesotho will be able to reduce its over dependency on imports for its food needs and generate the much-needed employment in the agribusiness sector.

The size and level of food imports in this country shows that it is exporting all the jobs that could have been generated through investments in the national agrifood system. To reverse this, we need to urgently transform the national agrifood system to be more efficient, more inclusive, more resilient and more sustainable.

The responsibility for this transformation is cross-sectoral, intra-ministerial, and calls on the participation of the public and private sector, and all development partners. It cannot be done alone, by one sole entity. Feeding a nation is everyone’s business.

As development partners we are required to work together in an efficient, effective and coherent manner, to assist government in strengthening the governance of agrifood systems, and in building the necessary synergies across all sectors and actors. The Development Partners Consultative Forum is an important platform to push for effective transformation.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear Colleagues,

FAO continues to promote global flagship initiatives to accelerate the transformation of global agrifood systems. These include initiatives such as the Hand-in-Hand, One Country One Priority Product, Digital Villages, and the Green Cities.

Through our Technical Cooperation Programmes, and with the leadership provided by the Ministry of Agriculture of Lesotho, we have provided catalytic funding to support Lesotho’s participation in these important initiatives, and their successful implementation.

To date the Organization has facilitated profiling of priority agrifood value chains and development of the related commodity-based sector development plan aimed at increasing productivity, competitiveness and inclusivity.

More importantly, the profiling exercise has also identified the key enablers that will make private sector investment more attractive for the specific value chains.

FAO is also assisting the Ministry of Agriculture to develop investment cases for poultry, piggery, potatoes and aquaculture.

Subsequently, Lesotho will present these investment cases at the Hand-in-Hand Investment Forum in October 2024 during the annual World Food Forum at FAO headquarters in Rome.

This will be an important opportunity for Lesotho on its path towards the transformation of its agrifood system, and as development partners in this journey, we need to provide all the necessary support to ensure the country is best placed to showcase its investment plans to global partners.

I wish to thank all development partners for your engagement. Together, we can ensure that Lesotho is not left behind!

Thank you.