The Government aims to source 80 per cent of food for the national school feeding programme from Basotho farmers within the next 18 months, as it moves to implement the National School Feeding Policy approved in 2024.
During a stakeholder meeting held under the theme, Accelerating Home-Grown School Feeding Through Local Procurement, representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, the Ministry of Education and Training, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), the Lesotho National Farmers Union (LENAFU) and other stakeholders discussed how the country can achieve the target.
Opening the meeting, Ministry of Agriculture’s Director of Marketing , Lekhooe Makhate, urged stakeholders to work together to ensure that the programme benefits both learners and local farmers.
“Feeding the children, increase classroom participation. When learners are not hungry, attendance goes up, grades go up, and communities grow stronger. This meeting is our chance to turn that belief into a feeding programme that works for every school,” Makhate said.
“We are not serving food, but we are serving opportunities. If we get this right, we fulfil potential. Let us use today to design a programme that delivers on its promises.”
The discussions focused on whether Lesotho has the capacity to source 80 per cent of food for schools from local farmers within 18 months.
Stakeholders agreed that while the target presents an opportunity to create a stable market for farmers, several challenges must first be addressed.
One of the major concerns raised was inconsistent agricultural production caused by climate change and erratic weather patterns.
“Farmers cannot meet demand if production itself is unreliable,” said Jubilee Ntloana, a school feeding coordinator, noting droughts, delayed rains and soil degradation are affecting yields.
“Without climate-smart support, this target will remain impossible.”
Participants also identified limited agricultural knowledge among some farmers as another factor affecting productivity.
Another major issue raised was the lack of organised supply chains capable of linking farmers with schools.
“We have farmers producing, but no structured system to collect, store and distribute food. That is the biggest problem,” said FAO Agricultural Officer Mohlophehi Maope.
“School feeding needs consistency, but farmers are disjointed.”
Maope said if farmers’ production challenges are addressed, the programme has the potential to succeed.
“There are policies already in place that now need to be implemented,” he said.
He noted that many schools continue relying on external suppliers because local farmers cannot guarantee consistent volumes or timely deliveries.
“Poor rural road networks and high transport costs further complicate the movement of goods, particularly from remote mountain areas.”
Food quality and safety also featured prominently during the discussions, with Livestock Marketing Manager, Kefuoe Malehlomela Thakabanna, stressing that increasing local procurement should never compromise food safety.
“We cannot compromise on the health of learners. Local sourcing must go hand in hand with strict adherence to food safety standards,” she said.
She pointed that farmers and suppliers require training in post-harvest handling, storage, packaging and compliance with health regulations before they can reliably supply schools.
Limited access to finance was identified as another major obstacle.
“Farmers need inputs, seeds, fertilisers and equipment, but most cannot afford them,” said Crops Marketing Officer Vuka Tsabo.
“Without financial support, production will remain low.”
Stakeholders recommended expanding agricultural subsidies, improving access to credit and introducing insurance schemes to protect farmers against climate-related losses.
They also proposed increased investment in irrigation infrastructure, training farmers in climate-smart agriculture and post-harvest management, establishing aggregation centres, reforming procurement systems to favour local suppliers and strengthening coordination among government ministries, farmers, schools and development partners.
Young poultry farmer Paseka Majara of Maggie Produce Farm welcomed the government’s intention to prioritise local farmers, saying their inclusion in the discussions would help producers prepare for future demand.
“As a poultry farmer, I am already supplying some schools with eggs. I wish other farmers could also look at school feeding as an opportunity because there is high demand for home-grown food,” Majara said.
“As farmers, we need to work hard to reach the target of 80 per cent, but we are faced with many problems such as climate change, which has harsh effects on our production. My plea is for those implementing this target within 18 months also to introduce measures that will enable farmers to produce higher yields.”
Thakabanna encouraged farmers to take advantage of the market opportunities created by the school feeding programme.
“We are all farmers here, and we need to work harder in production so that children in our schools eat organic food,” she said.
“The market is there. Farmers need to improve the way they maintain production to meet demand, and many organisations are willing to invest in farmers who are serious about increasing production.”
Despite the challenges identified during the meeting, stakeholders agreed that the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme has the potential to transform Lesotho’s agricultural sector by creating reliable markets for farmers, improving household incomes and strengthening national food security.