Lesotho - Emergency Assistance for Humanitarian Relief to the Victims of Food Crisis

Lesotho’s food security has declined alarmingly for the second year in a row. The impact of erratic and late rains in the cropping season 2011-2012 added to the increasingly vulnerable situation of rural Lesotho after a poor harvest in 2010-2011 due to the heavy rains. The crop forecasts issued by the Bureau of Statistics in June 2012 showed that production of maize, the main staple food, declined by 77% from last year; sorghum by 80% and wheat by 52%. These crop estimates indicate that domestic production will contribute to less than 10% of the annual national cereal requirements for 2012/13.