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Rural poverty approaches, policies & strategies in Lesotho

After a three-year process of consultations and wide participation involving the people of Lesotho and representatives of the government, civil society, the private sector and development partners, the Kingdom of Lesotho presented its first Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2004/2005 and 2006/2007.

The government’s strategic priorities as outlined in the Poverty Reduction Strategy included:

• creating employment opportunities
• improving agricultural production and food security by improving farming practices, irrigation systems and water supply schemes, and livestock and fodder production
• developing infrastructure, including transport, water and power supply, sanitation and telecommunications, and promoting planned settlement of peri-urban areas and affordable housing
• improving governance at national and local levels and implementing decentralization
• improving the quality of and access to essential health care and social welfare services to meet the challenges of increasing poverty, disease, and the devastating onslaught of HIV/AIDS
• increasing human resource capacity, particularly by closing the gender gap
• managing and conserving the environment, including carefully monitoring of waste water
• improving delivery of public services by overcoming factors such as lack of technology and poor management

HIV/AIDS
HIV/AIDS has had a devastating impact in Lesotho, not only on people’s health and living conditions, but also on agriculture, the education system and the economy. The HIV prevalence rates are among the highest in the world. About 25 per cent of the adult population aged between 15 and 49 is living with HIV. HIV/AIDS has contributed enormously to the sharp drop in life expectancy, which is now estimated at 39 and 44 years old for men and women, respectively (UNAIDS). The depletion of assets and loss of income because of the illness and death of the productive members of households have had an extremely negative impact on rural livelihoods. The number of orphans and vulnerable children is becoming a serious social issue. Under the National AIDS Policy & Strategy Plan for 2006–2011, the National AIDS Commission is now fully operational, although overall coverage of HIV-related services is still very limited, and improving access to treatment is still a major challenge. The ambitious Know Your Status campaign is considered the gateway to the national AIDS response and its aim is to make every person in Lesotho aware of their HIV status.

Source: IFAD