Lesotho: 'Agriculture Sector At a Turning Point'
The agricultural sector has gone through trying times over the years, with the government introducing a number of programmes to address the dire situation and ensure food security.
Ensuring Lesotho farmers produce enough food for the nation and export is a vision the ministry has held for many years, but which persistently proves difficult to fulfil. In this wide-ranging interview, the Lesotho Times (LT) speaks with the Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Mr Mahala Molapo (MM) on why he believes the country's farming sector is now at a "turning point".
LT: This is your second appointment to the Ministry of Agriculture... the first was in 2012 when you were deputy minister and you were in the post for less than three years and early this year, you were appointed minister. How do you find the agricultural sector this time around?
MM: The main issue in the ministry is still food security, with the big question being how do we make sure agriculture attracts more people to fully utilise the land we have in order to produce enough for the country. I was in this ministry before in the first coalition government, but I have since realised that a lot of the programmes we had introduced changed their scope when the second coalition government took over. We are trying to see how best we can encourage farmers to go back to the fields this summer cropping season.
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