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ESAFF Lesotho in collaboration with ESAFF regional office is implementing a project aimed at enhancing small scale farmers’ capacity to influence and monitor the realization of the Malabo Declaration Goals in Lesotho. The project started in 2017–2018 is funded by Germany organization called Bread for the World. The project is also implemented in South Africa and Swaziland. It aims to enhance organizational capacity of farmer organizations in these countries and enable farmers influence implementation of the national agriculture investments plans in line with the Malabo Declaration on agriculture. ESAFF Lesotho trained a total of Lesotho 90 farmers’ small-scale farmers (SSFs) in three districts namely Mokhotlong, Thaba-tseka and Mafeteng. Training brought also selected

extension officer from ministry of agriculture and food security who expressed desire to join PETs committee in the district. An extension officer from Ministry of Agriculture and food security expressing her desire to join PETS

committee in Mokhotlong district. (Pic above) Mafeteng district.In Mafeteng district the PETs committee tracked

Smallholder Agriculture Development Project (SADP) which aimed to equip small farmers with necessary tools and equipment to run their own projects. It began in 2012 for a period of 6 years. 4 districts were chosen as pilots including Mafeteng. Funds were disbursed to the beneficiaries who were supposed to open a greenhouse and it was built but unfortunately it was not working since it was built. The greenhouse

A piggery project known as ‘’HaReeng Pele Baits Okoli” was visited to know its progress, the setback encountering

the project was lack of enough money to buy food for the pigs as the money they were given was enough to buy the parent stock only. It was also denoted that despite the project was still running the beneficiaries were not working on the project but instead they hired someone paying him on daily basis as they have their day to day job. The project members were 15 members. In Mafeteng, including the people running the SADP project said it was not successful as some of beneficiaries were not smallholder farmers and all lacked skills and passion to run projects and abandoned them. Members of the parliament agreed to work together on the CAADP programme and not politicizing issues related.