Lesotho declares food insecurity emergency

Lesotho’s government says people are at risk of extreme hunger in the next eight months. The country’s Prime Minister Sam Matekane has declared a national food insecurity disaster spanning eight months from July 2024 to March 2025.

The Lesotho Times reports Matekane announced that severe El Niño-induced droughts are causing extreme hunger for at least 700,000 Basotho, a notable rise from the 582,000 affected in the 2022/2023 period. This crisis, impacting Lesotho’s agricultural sector and the wider Southern African region, will require about M1.2 billion to address. Under section 3 of the Disaster Management Act No.2 of 1997, Mr. Matekane has declared a national food insecurity disaster, effective from July 12, 2024, to March 31, 2025.