Lesotho: WFP to Support 44,000 Vulnerable People

By Development Diaries
November 8, 2021

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received EUR 1.5 million from the government of Germany to support highly vulnerable people in Lesotho struggling to meet their basic food needs amidst the Covid-19 pandemic.

WFP noted in a statement that the available funding it has will allow it assist a total of 44,000 food insecure people in the country.

‘This contribution will improve access to food and ensure that vulnerable people, including women, have access to an adequate and nutritious diet in times of need, particularly during the lean season, more commonly referred to as the period between planting and harvesting’, the WFP statement read.

‘The assistance to the identified people will be through monthly cash transfers via mobile money and commodity voucher assistance’.

In total, about 470,000 people in Lesotho are food insecure and require humanitarian assistance to reduce food gaps, protect and restore livelihoods and prevent acute malnutrition.

The United Nations (UN) report on Impact of Covid-19 on Youth and Adolescents in Lesotho noted that government-imposed measures restricted informal traders who make up 80 percent of the domestic private sector.

‘WFP welcomes this timely and generous contribution from the people of Germany to enable us to respond to the most urgent humanitarian needs across the country, especially during the difficult times of the [Covid-19] pandemic which has impacted already vulnerable groups in Lesotho, driving them into increased food insecurity’, Lesotho WFP Country Director, Aurora Rusiga, said.

‘This contribution from Germany will go a long way in assisting vulnerable people who are finding it increasingly difficult to put food on the table and in dire need of support’.

WFP said it aims to assist 122,000 food insecure people through emergency response assistance until the end of the lean season in March 2022.

Beneficiaries are expected to receive $47 through monthly cash transfers via mobile money and commodity vouchers to help meet their basic food needs.

‘We commend WFP for its continuous efforts to improve the lives of vulnerable people in the southern Africa region’, German Ambassador to South Africa, Lesotho and Eswatini, Andreas Pesche, said.

‘Germany hopes that this funding will contribute to mitigating the suffering of vulnerable people at a time when more of them are in need of humanitarian assistance’.

Source: WFP