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Tackling Land Degradation and Enhancing Sustainable Management of Natural Resources in Lesotho - GCP/LES/052/GER

Year of publication 2024

Place of publication Rome, Italy ;

Pages 2

Publisher FAO ;

Product type Project

Synopsis (short abstract) Lesotho has experienced a cycle of environmental degradation, poverty and climate change over the past 50 years. Population growth, poverty and food insecurity have forced people into previously uninhabited areas like wetlands and mountain slopes. As a result, the country has suffered severe land degradation that threatens traditional herding culture and livelihoods. The significant reduction in arable land increases food insecurity, reduces livelihood opportunities and fuels communal conflict. At the same time wetland degradation reduces water supply across the basin area. In addition, uncontrolled land degradation increasingly threatens essential infrastructure such as dams, roads and buildings. Climate change presents an aggravating factor. This project was designed within the overall framework of the Integrated Catchment Management (ICM) programme implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), which seeks to ensure that ICM facilitates socioeconomic development and adaptation to climate change in Lesotho. FAO aimed to support the whole programme by establishing baseline data on key indicators under ICM in Lesotho, and laying the foundation for the development of a robust ICM monitoring system.

Language English

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