Lesotho - ACT: 25-Sep-03
Action by Churches Together (ACT)
Appeal - Lesotho
Food Crisis Mitigation AFLS-31
Appeal Target: US$ 477,066
Balance Requested from ACT Network: US$ 423,742
25 September 2003
During the severe food crisis of 2002/2003 season in Southern Africa
region, Lesotho was one of the affected countries with over 445,000 people
having been targeted for food relief assistance. ACT issued an appeal to
assist 9,700 most vulnerable people through its member the Christian
Council of Lesotho (CCL).
CCL has now informed us that, according to a recent assessment carried out
by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the
World Food Programme (WFP), there still is a considerable number of people
who require food assistance during 2003/2004 despite an increase in the
amount of food produced. However, the production was 30% less than the
average food production required to sustain the whole country. The
southern districts of Mafeteng, Mohale's hoek, Quthing and Qacha's nek had
been badly affected by drought, erratic weather and inadequate seeds
inputs. Many people in these districts are still without food as food
production had not improved from last year.
ACT member the Christian Council of Lesotho is proposing an integrated
short term and long term food assistance to the most vulnerable groups
(chronically sick and child headed families) in Sekake and Seforong,
Qacha's nek and Quthing districts respectively in order to save lives of
approximately 11,718 people through the provision of relief food
assistance. For recovery and long term food security, CCL will provide
seeds and tools to the 1,953 targeted families. It has been requested that
a balance of un-utilised funds amounting to over $53,000 from the previous
appeal AFLS-21 be transferred to this appeal.
Project Completion Date: 31 July 2004
Summary of Appeal Targets, Pledges/Contributions Received and Balance
Requested
US$
Total Appeal Target(s) 477,066
Less: Funds from AFLS-21 53,324
Balance Requested from ACT Network 423,742
Thor-Arne Prois
Director, ACT
REQUESTING ACT MEMBER
Christian Council of Lesotho (CCL)
IMPLEMENTING ACT MEMBER & PARTNER INFORMATION
The Christian Council of Lesotho is an ecumenical body, a fellowship of
churches and organisations that have been involved, amongst other things,
in drought relief operations within Lesotho. It has also been involved in
the repatriation of refugees to South Africa and also facilitated the
resettlement of Basotho political returnees.
At present five churches are full time members while one organisation is
an associate member. Its members have been facilitating training in
disaster management, though some re-training will be necessary. The
regional structures - the eyes and ears of the Council - are facilitating
development at the local level. Apart from the member churches and
organisations the Council has been able to partner with the Council of
Non-Governmental Organisations (LCN), the Disaster Management Authority
(DMA) and the United Nations Systems.
DESCRIPTION of the EMERGENCY SITUATION
In the year 2002 Lesotho faced extreme weather variability for the second
year in a row; heavy rainfalls, early frost, seasonal drought, hailstorms
and heavy snow were experienced. Lesotho is one of the countries in the
Southern Africa region faced with food shortages and in April 2002, the
Prime Minister declared Lesotho as a country in food-crisis. Although not
of the same scale as in Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, a large number of
households were in dire need of food relief to avoid starvation.
The World Food Programme had estimated that at its peak 448,800 people
would require food assistance. The Government of Lesotho had also
indicated that food production in the last two harvests had dropped by 55%
compared to the previous two years, and the hardest hit areas were in the
southern parts of the country, particularly the Senqu valley and mountain
districts.
The Christian Council of Lesotho, in close collaboration with its members
churches and organisations, proposed to intervene in the food-crisis by
targeting 1,823 most vulnerable households in two of the worst hit
districts - Ha-Sekake in the Qacha's nek district and Seforong in the
Quthing district from October 2002 to June 2003 (AFLS-21). The assistance
included the monthly distribution of maize-meal, vegetable oil, and pulses
using the SPHERE and WFP recommended food rations. In addition the
beneficiary families received beans, peas and wheat seeds to plant for the
next harvest in June 2003. An under-five supplementary feeding was
extended to the 1823 most vulnerable under-fives.
As of June 2003, the able-bodied target group has benefited and community
development projects in environmental rehabilitation, tree planting,
nursery establishment and road maintenance have been undertaken in the
different villages. Very few households have harvested above average beans
and preliminary wheat and peas assessments indicate yet another cereal
deficit because of ongoing drought. Many under-fives have gained
recognisable weight and height.
Current Situation
A recent assessment carried out by the United Nations Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO) and the World Food Programme (WFP) states that this
year 2003 has seen higher national food production than last year; the
cereal production is 60% of the 5-year average. Most of the food in
Lesotho was produced in the northern part of the country where rainfall
was adequate. However, general food production is 30% less than the
average food production that is required to sustain the whole country. The
southern districts of Mafeteng, Mohale's hoek, Quthing and Qacha's nek
have been badly affected by drought, erratic weather and inadequate seeds
inputs. Many people in these districts are still without food as food
production has not improved from last year. The main impacts to be
considered are reduced food and cash crops, low production levels, reduced
productivity of grazing land, rising food prices and various levels of
constrained market access.
In the mountainous eastern side of the country which is much less densely
populated, arable land is scarce and communities are much more isolated
from urban services and markets. The FAO and WFP assessments conclude that
the actually food security situation has worsened with more areas drifting
into food insecurity within the southern districts and the Senqu river
valley. The report further states that between 90% - 100% of the worst
affected people will face a 42% - 47% of deficit in their annual food
needs. The Government's social welfare programmes have a limited capacity
to reverse this trend. There is a need to target the socially vulnerable
groups given the anticipated level of deficit and that general food
distribution seems to be one likely component of targeted assistance to
the southern areas within the Senqu valley.
The WFP Country Representative has expressed great concern on the
deteriorating situation due to the persistent drought. There has been no
precipitation over the last 5 months and spring cultivation will become
more difficult or will be likely to be delayed. Though Qacha's nek
district is said to have produced above average harvest that is not
actually the case. The mission that carried out the assessment sampled
only three villages out of a thousand. CCL visited the assessed villages
and the people reported that they had harvested only 6 bags of maize,
sufficient for five months. For an average family to have enough
maize-meal for a year, it needs to harvest 12-14 bags.
It seems the mission's assessment was based on whether a person has
harvested or not, not on whether the harvest could sustain the entire
family for a period of at least 10-12 months. According to the Ministry
of Agriculture's assessment the actual crop yields reveal that Qacha's nek
district now falls under those districts which need food assistance.
A complicating factor is the increasing HIV/AIDS pandemic, which now
stands with a prevalence rate of over 30%. HIV/AIDS impacts negatively on
livelihoods as many of the people who depended on agriculture get sick and
agricultural production declines. Vulnerability to food insecurity is
largely caused by HIV/AIDS. It is also estimated that there are over
70,000 orphans in Lesotho whose parents have died of AIDS related
sicknesses and, according to DMA targeting, the affected households will
fall under the category of the chronically sick. It has been established
that people who are vulnerable to sustained hunger and malnutrition are
more susceptible to the ravage of HIV/AIDS, while households that lose
care-givers and breadwinners to the HIV/AIDS were more susceptible to food
shortages.
The HIV/AIDS impact on food production also contributes to the drastic
rise of food prices resulting from domestic and regional food shortages.
In Lesotho an orphan is defined as a person younger than 18 years who has
lost one or both of the parents. The orphans and chronically sick belong
to the most vulnerable groups. In Quthing and Qacha's nek the DMA
estimates that there are about 14,000 orphans. In Lesotho ARV's are beyond
the means of many Basotho. The HIV/AIDS factor is also being complicated
by the gender injustices prevalent in the rural areas. Sexual abuse
against young girls and women is rife as women economically depend on men.
The rural women, in most cases, have no say in what happens to their own
bodies and this results in a vicious circle of re-infection. The
inheritance practice also makes it difficult for women and young girls to
inherit land, which they could use productively for agriculture when the
husbands are sick or dead, or both parents are dead. During the evaluation
between 27 and 30 June 2003, one recommendation which came out clearly was
for the Christian Council of Lesotho to target the most vulnerable
households particularly the chronically sick and child headed households
because they have no coping mechanisms. At a prevalence rate of 31%,
HIV/AIDS has a devastating impact on mortality, morbidity and livelihoods.
There is an immediate urgency to assist those worst affected as there is a
danger acute food crisis in which there is no expectation of a return to
either sustainable livelihoods or a demographic equilibrium. The bias
towards these two groups is also in line with the DMA thinking.
Location of the Project
The project will be based at Ha-Sekake, within the Integrated Rural
Development Project of the Christian Council of Lesotho. Ha-Sekake is
350km from the capital Maseru, towards the southeast, and is bordered by
the South African provinces of the Eastern Cape and Kwazulu-Natal. The
area coverage includes many parts of the Qhoali constituency No 68, which
falls in the Quthing district, and parts of the Qacha's nek constituency
No 69 which falls in the Qacha's nek district. There are more than 200
hamlets scattered around the Qhoali plateau, the Tebellong plateau and the
lowland areas of Seforong, Sekake and White-Hill which lie along the Senqu
river valley, which is recognised as the most poverty stricken area in
Lesotho. These areas exist at altitudes of between 2,500 - 3,000 metres
and are prone to seasonal weather disturbances. The Christian Council has
some of its members churches based here; they are the Lesotho Evangelical
Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Anglican Church, and the Methodist
Church of Southern Africa. These Churches been involved in the
identification and verification of beneficiary lists in the previous phase
and will continue to be involved. Other implementing partners are World
Vision International and the direct assistance from World Food programme
/Disaster Management Authority.
Disaster and Emergency Statistics
The WFP-FAO food security report indicates that the number of
beneficiaries will vary from 125,000 to 270,000 during the lean period.
There is a need for 32,000 mt of cereal food aid to targeted households -
those that lost their entire crop, have no livestock and are chronically
ill, up to the next harvest season in June 2004.
The Christian Council of Lesotho estimates to cover 1,953 chronically sick
households and child headed households. These households include 6,210
females and 5,508 males beneficiaries. Although this is a CCL operational
area, the CCL is targeting quite a low number of beneficiaries to ensure
that their infrastructure and extension services will be adequate.
These are preliminary estimates as the DMA is still finalising the
compilation of reports. Final verification is still due.
Current Security Situation
The security within the country is stable - as seen in the calmness and
peacefulness of the first completed bi-election in the Qhoali constituency
No 68 on 23 August 2003. Following the 1998 political disturbances, the
military has been demilitarized and retrained to undertake civic
activities where necessary. In the first phase of relief work CCL had some
communication problems because there were neither fixed lines phones nor
cellular networks. CCL is now in the process of installing a two-way
radio link between Headquarters in Maseru and the base in Sekake. The
roads to most of the proposed delivery points are usable for medium types
of vehicles when it is not raining. There is a police post at Ha-Sekake,
and in the previous phase there were no reported thefts and break-ins. The
cross border livestock theft has also subsided because of the visible
policing along the border areas.
GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Goal: To provide an integrated short term and long term food assistance
to the most vulnerable groups (chronically sick and child headed families)
in Sekake and Seforong, Qacha's nek and Quthing districts respectively in
order to save lives of approximately 1, 953 households through improved
nutritional status, food security and protection of human rights.
Objectives:
Three hundred and fifty nine families with chronically ill members will
have received nutrition based food resources containing the Recommended
Daily Allowances (RDA) monthly from October 2003 to June 2004.
1,953 households consisting of chronically ill and child headed households
will have participated in the establishment of food security schemes in
Sekake and Seforong, Qacha's nek and Quthing districts respectively by
June 2004.
Project staff and communities will undergo a reorientation process on the
new approach and strategies.
TARGETED BENEFICIARIES.
An estimated 1,953 households (11,718 persons - 5,508 male and 6,210
female) will be assisted, including child headed households. The figure of
11,718 represents the total number of beneficiaries in the rural areas of
Sekake and Seforong, in the Qacha's nek and Quthing districts. They
include the young and the elderly.
Criteria utilised in selection of beneficiaries
The criteria used for selection is that the families they have lost their
entire harvest, have chronically sick members and one or both of their
parents have died. The selected beneficiaries have no coping mechanisms
left. Exacerbating the situation, their rights are being violated in
terms of discrimination, stigmatisation and gender practices. Their
nutritional status is very low for the same reason that their rights are
being violated. It is being proved beyond reasonable doubt that proper
nutrition can inhibit many of the opportunistic diseases. In many cases
children who have no parents have to spend days on end without food, and
hence malnutrition and opportunistic infections becomes rife. This target
group needs to be assisted so that it takes its rightful place in the
development of the country.
Number of Targeted Beneficiaries According to proposed Assistance
Chronically sick = 359
Other households according to target = 1,594
PROPOSED EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE & IMPLEMENTATION.
Food Relief
For the chronically sick 359 RDA food baskets per month or 3,231 baskets
over a nine months period.
For the child headed households and others the needs are 1, 594 x 70kg of
maize meal, 1,594 x 5kg of pulses, 1,594 x 2 litres of vegetable oil per
month over nine months.
Agricultural seeds and tools are also needed for 1,953 households - 1 kg
of assorted vegetable seeds for each family. 400 households will be
trained in alternative indigenous small vegetable production. Indigenous
vegetable species are now recognised as inhibitors of the spread of
opportunistic infections.
Implementation Description per Activity
For the chronically:
sick, six staff persons will work with 2 health centres in the
identification and verification of the chronically sick. The six staff
will pay home visits on a monthly basis and establish a rapport with the
sick and also record the progress made. They will also distribute the RDA
food rations and explain how it should be utilised.
Upon recovery the chronically sick will be encouraged to become active and
plant their own green vegetables, indigenous plants and fruit using crop
rotation. They will also be encouraged to take care of any livestock they
may have themselves.
There will also be:
Advocacy for the rights of the chronically sick.
Dissemination of information on gender and HIV/AIDS policies.
Organise campaigns on stigma and discrimination.
Encourage voluntary counselling and testing.
For the child headed households, the six people mentioned above will
implement the following activities:
Offer counselling sessions to the child headed households.
Distribute monthly rations.
Encourage\demonstrate how to plant own vegetables, fruits and manage
livestock using the indigenous Machobane farming system.
Provide the necessary back up systems.
Advocate with the child headed households for gender justice.
Procurement: the food rations for the chronically sick will be packaged
according to the Ministry of Health specifications to include all the food
groups of carbohydrates, minerals, protein and fats. The plate for the
chronically sick should include more than five colours, but which will
give them strength, help the healing process and improve the body's
general outlook. They will be procured from within the country, at least a
few days before they are distributed. The I.R.D.P has adequate storage
facilities in which they can be kept in transit.
The food rations for the child headed households are easy to procure from
within the country and have a larger shelf-life, because they are dried
foods. Most of the dry food will be transported from Maseru to Ha-Sekake
by the suppliers as transport costs are included in the purchase price.
>From Ha-Sekake to the different distribution points local transport will
be hired. The famine project already has a 4x4 vehicle used for monitoring
purposes.
The distribution plans have been made in such a way that the local
transport is given a schedule of quantities, times, dates and places of
delivery two weeks in advance. The transport owner is required to report
within 48 hours if he/she is not in a position to honour the agreement so
that alternative arrangements can be made.
Transition from Emergency:
This proposal by its very nature has a short-term component that of
providing much needed food assistance to vulnerable groups particularly
the chronically sick and child headed households. The long-term component
is to provide seeds, seedlings for indigenous vegetable species, herbs and
plants, so that these vulnerable groups can rely on their own production
beyond June 2004. By June 2004, the long-term component will have been
fully integrated into the new Southern Mountain Rural Transformation and
Development (SMARTD) project. SMARTD is a project within Ha-Sekake area,
which looks at household's food security and environmental rehabilitation.
Funding will come from Christian Aid and the Association of Protestant
churches in Germany. SMARTD intends using a comprehensive participatory
approach that takes advantages of synergies of practices at field level,
offering production, economic and conservation benefits. The approach
emphasises the building of soil organic matter levels through proper use
of organic fertilisers, manure, ash coupled with intercropping and
improved cereals and legumes, conservation farming and agro forestry
practices. The expected overall benefits are the improvement of soil
structure and fertility, food security, cash income, dietary diversity and
protection of the environment. The improved soil structure and fertility
results in increased efficiency in plant nutrients, thus enhancing the
profitability of crop production as well as enabling crops to withstand
drought.
ADMINISTRATION, FINANCE, MONITORING & REPORTING.
Administration
The overall responsibility of the project lies with the General Secretary
who is the Chief Executive Officer responsibility to the Executive
Committee. The Poverty Reduction Team member and the Integrated Rural
development Project Co-ordinator are responsible for the monitoring of the
project but are not salaried from the project budget. The Relief Officer
is responsible for purchasing, procurement, logistics and acts as a
liaison between the Headquarters and Ha-Sekake. He/She is a member of
Management Team as well as representing the CCL in DMA and other relief
bodies. He/She is required to attend all relevant meetings at the national
level. The assistant relief officers are responsible for setting up
distribution points, verifying lists and updating, distribution,
counseling and monitoring stock movement.
Financial Management and Controls
A separate bank account will be opened by the Christian Council of
Lesotho, with Lesotho Bank, 1999 Ltd and a firm of independent auditor's
appointed. The General Secretary, Chairperson and one of Executive
Committee are signatories to the project cheques. The Accounts office is
staffed by two people, an Accountant and an Assistant Accountant. They
will be required to present monthly reports of the project. The Christian
Council of Lesotho has developed a financial manual, which clearly
stipulates the procedures for ordering, procurement quotations and
payments. Because the project operates far from Maseru, a mini budget is
always drawn and funds deposited in a separate bank account in Qacha's nek
Lesotho bank 1999 branch. On that account the manager of IRDP and the
Chairman of the Project Committee are signatories to the accounts.
Application to incur expenditure is done through a requisition form, which
has to be approved by the Accountant, and the General Secretary before any
transaction is made.
An independent company of internationally recognised auditors will
undertake the auditing of the accounts on the times agreed with the donor
partners.
Monitoring & Evaluation
The IRDP Project Co-ordinator and the Poverty Reduction Team member are
responsible for monthly monitoring visits to check distribution and
whether intended beneficiaries have actually received the food staffs.
They also monitor the budget with the Accountant. The Relief Officer will
monitor what procurements have to be made, when and at what quantities.
He/she follows up on orders in order to meet deadlines and monitor the
movement of trucks from Maseru to Sekake. He/She makes sure whether what
was ordered and transported from Maseru to Sekake tallies with the receipt
form and waybills, which are signed upon delivery of merchandise at
Sekake. He/She does this work once a month.
The assistant relief officers will monitor what is taking place on the
ground, in terms of distribution of food rations to the vulnerable groups,
the chronically sick and child headed households. They monitor changes in
the lives of the beneficiaries and also monitor plantations. The assistant
relief officers are normally based within villages and will be able to
monitor the progress of the vulnerable groups on a daily and or weekly
basis. They will also offer counselling services to the vulnerable groups.
IMPLEMENTATION SCHEDULE
8.1 Project Assessment-lists verification with DMA
Reorientation and training
Sep - 2003
Oct - 2003
8.2 Start up
Oct - 2003
8.2.1 Order of stocks
Sep - 2003
8.2.2 1st Distribution
Oct - 2003
2nd Distribution
Nov - 2003
3rd Distribution
Dec - 2003
8.2.3 Interim Report
start transition
Jan - 2004
8.2.4 4th Distribution
Jan - 2004
8.2.5 5th Distribution
Feb - 2004
8.2.6 6th Distribution
Mar - 2004
8.2.7 Interim Report
continue transition
Apr - 2004
8.2.8 7th Distribution
Apr - 2004
8.2.9 8th Distribution
May - 2004
8.2.10 9th Distribution
Jun - 2004
8.2.11 Full transition and Hook up Evaluation (SMARTD)
June/July - 2004
8.2.12 Close out
July - 2004
CO-ORDINATION
The Disaster Management Authority is the national co-ordinating agency for
emergency and disaster in Lesotho. It facilitates meetings for the various
stakeholders on relief on monthly or adhoc basis. The Christian Council of
Lesotho attends these meetings at the national levels. At the regional
level the Disaster Management Authority operates through District Disaster
Management Committees, which are composed of the relevant government
ministries in the area with the District Secretary as the Chairperson. On
its part the CCL operates through regional committees at the district
level. Therefore even at the district level there is a lot of interaction
with the D.M.A. At the local level the D.M.A operates through Community
Disaster Management Committees while the CCL uses its member churches at
the local level. It has already been agreed that the church
representatives should always sit together with members of Community
Disaster Management Committees to verify and update lists as frequently as
possible in order to avoid duplication and waste of scarce resources, more
so to make sure that the food reaches the intended beneficiaries. The CCL
also has working relationship with other relief and humanitarian agencies
like the Lesotho Red Cross and the Lesotho Council of Non Governmental
Organisations (LCN) which is an umbrella body for all non-governmental and
relief organisations in Lesotho.
BUDGET
INCOME US$
Funds from appeal number AFLS- 21 53,324
Total Income 53,324
ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE
Description Type of No of Unit
Cost Budget Budget Units Units LSL LSL US$
DIRECT ASSISTANCE
Pre Crisis Phase Assistance
Emergency Response Training Participant 30
400 12,000 1,657
Crisis Phase assistance
Maize Meal Mt 877 2,020
1,771,540 244,688
Vegetable oil Ltr 35,064 8
285,070 39,374
Pulses Mt 88 7,400 651,200 89,945
Nutritional Boosters Baskets 3,141 80
251,280 34,707
Food Security & Agricultural Pkts 1,745
15 26,175 3,615
Sub Total Crisis Phase Assistance
2,997,265 413,987
Material Transport, Storage, Warehousing
Internal Transport Costs Month 9
4,950 44,550 6,153
External Transport Costs Month 9
6,500 58,500 8,080
Labour for Loading & Unloading Man/day 27
80 2,160 298
Other Costs (Fumigation) Man/day 1
80 80 11
Sub Total Transport,
Storage 105,290 14,543
Capital Equipment
Computers and Peripherals Computer 1
34,696 34,696 4,792
Sub - Total 34,696 4,792
Personnel, Administration, Operations and
Support
Project Staff Salaries Month 9
10,500 94,500 13,052
Volunteer Stipends/Honorariums Month 9
4,000 36,000 4,972
Local and Regional Travel Person 5
2,900 14,500 2,003
Per Diems (Food/Lodging) Person 5
14,500 72,500 10,014
Office Utilities Month 9 2,000
18,000 2,486
Office Stationery & Supplies Month 9
500 4,500 622
Telephone and Fax Month 9 1,850
16,650 2,300
Electronic Mail Month 9 700
6,300 870
Fuel (Gasoline & Diesel) Month 9
600 5,400 746
Maintanance (Parts Labour) Month 9
1,000 9,000 1,243
Insurance Month 9 876
7,884 1,089
Sub - Total 285,234 39,397
Audit of ACT Appeal Funds Lump
sum 11,000 1,519
Program Evaluation Lump
sum 8,470 1,170
Total Estimated
Expenditure 3,453,955 477,066
Less Income 53,324
BALANCE REQUESTED FROM ACT
NETWORK 423,742
Exchange Rate: US$ 1 = 7.24
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