Faculty of Agriculture
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Item Open Access Biostimulatory and antimicrobial properties of Tulbaghia violacea(University of the Free State, 2004-10) Nteso, Leeto; Prof.Pretorius, J.C.; Dr.Potgieter, G.P.My first gratitude and praise to Almighty God, the Life-giver, who let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds (Genesis 1:11) and has caused to grow out of the ground, herbs for the use of man. What is impossible with man is possible with God. I would like to acknowledge the financial assistance to me provided by the government of Lesotho through National Manpower Development secretariat, for the payment of tuition, boarding and lodging and other academic fees. Your sponsorship was not in vain. My deepest gratitude and sincere appreciation are extended to Professor J.C. Pretorius, promoter of this research, for his patient and untiring guidance. His kindness, academic vision and inexhaustible energy were an inspiration and motivation to me in this study. Without him the objectives of this research would not have been achieved. His demand and desire for perfection and academic excellence have left an indelible impression on my mind and I hope to pass them on to my students. I have really been honoured to have been his student. My gratitude also goes to my co-promoter Dr. Potgieter for his expertise in seed physiology (seed germination and seedling establishment) and different aspects important to plant growth and development and the effect of natural “bio-catalysts” on plant growth and yield. Next I would like to thank Dr. Irene Kamara for her assistance with nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy analysis and chemical structural elucidation of the active compounds. Her contribution to this section is also highly appreciated. Your patient smile will always be remembered. I would also like to recognize and thank the following people for their dedication and support for the success of this research: Elmarie van der Watt for her kind and patient laboratory technical guidance and support throughout the three years of this study. Please don’t get tired of doing the good. Your assistance was highly valued. I also extend my appreciation and gratitude to Charlotte Maree for her laboratory assistance with respect to the antimicrobial tests of this research. I am most grateful to Alida Du Plessis for her ever-ready secretarial assistance during this research. The Head of organic chemistry department and staff for allowing me to use their laboratory during the purification and isolation phase of my plant extract. Special thanks to ‘Madira Litelu and Tebogo Manong for their daily technical guidance and help in the laboratory. Without Tebogo, the finer details of the isolation techniques would have escaped my notice. I wish to express my appreciation to my colleague in this study Girma Tegegne, for his contribution to chapter 5 and his assistance with the statistical analysis of my data, and with whom we shared a lot of hardships, disappointments and successes, and also for the brainstorming sessions we held together on this research. Finally, to my late Brother Ben Nteso for his initial financial support, if it had not been for him I would not have registered for this degree. We hope to meet him at the first resurrection.Item Metadata only Conservative agriculture adoption, profitability, input demand and maize production: A household survey analysis of smallholder producers in Lesotho(Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 2014) Lambert, M. D.; Marake, M.Item Open Access Effect of land tenure security on agricultural productivity among small scale maize farmers in Leribe and Maseru districts of Lesotho(National University of Lesotho, 2024-08) Mochesane, Liketso ElliotThe productivity of small-scale maize farmers in Lesotho remains constrained by land tenure insecurity among other constraints, limiting their ability to maximize agricultural output. The primary objective of this study is to assess the effect of land tenure security on agricultural productivity among small-scale maize farmers in the Leribe and Maseru districts of Lesotho. Specifically, the study aims to identify different land tenure security systems, measure the breadth and duration of tenure, compare maize productivity across systems, and analyze the influence of land tenure security on productivity. A multi-stage sampling technique was employed, resulting in a sample size of 49 respondents (23 from Leribe and 26 from Maseru). The study used descriptive statistics and regression analysis to evaluate the effect of land tenure security on agricultural productivity. Results indicated that land tenure security does not significantly influences maize productivity. With regard to land tenure security, "Marital Status" and "Education Level" show weak significance in Leribe district, while in Maseru district, the "Land Tenure System" comes close to being weakly significant (p = 0.0795). This suggests that while land tenure security does not have a consistently strong effect across both districts, the way land is acquired and certain socio-demographic factors may have localized effects onproductivity. The results highlight the need for stakeholders to implement policies that facilitate affordable access to secure land tenure by obtaining land title deeds.Item Metadata only Effects of effective microorganisms (EM) on garlic (Allium Sativum L) Production in Roma Valley in Lesotho(Lesotho Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2014) Mofokeng, M.; Mohammed, J.Item Open Access Factors influencing technical efficiency among horticultural farmers in Lesotho(National University of Lesotho, 2024-09) Nkuebele, MapolotsoThe research focused on the factors influencing technical efficiency among tomato farmers in Leribe district. The specific objectives were to evaluate technical efficiency of horticulture farmers in Leribe and to identify factors that influence technical efficiency among horticulture farmers in the study area. Stratified sampling technique was used to select 95 tomato farmers. A combination of primary and secondary data was used to collect data for this study, and these were obtained using a structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the demographics and socio-economics characteristics of the farmers. Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) was used to measure technical efficiency while Principal Component Analysis (PCA) model was used to identify factors influencing technical efficiency. Data was captured and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0 and National Council of Statistics Software (NCSS) 2024. The SFA results revealed that tomato farmers in Leribe achieved a technical efficiency level of 83.5%, which is above the benchmark of 70%. PCA results showed that factors such as gender with a (β= 0.279, p = 0.0276), education (β = 0.114, p = 0.0451), seed quality (β = 0.364, p = 0.0009), animal power (β = -0.318, p = 0.0048), farmer experience (β= 0.113, p = 0.0283), irrigation (β= -0.141, p = 0.0385) and off-farm income (β = -0.258 and p-value 0.0279) significantly influenced technical efficiency among tomato farmers in the study area. The study concludes that tomato farmers of Leribe are technically efficient as they achieved way above the acceptable minimum TE score 70%. Furthermore, demographic characteristics and technical factors affect the technical efficiency of tomato production in the Leribe district. To boost technical efficiency among tomato farmers, there is need to promote gender equality in agriculture, efforts should be made to improve access to resources for women by implementing policies that ensure that female farmers have access to land, agricultural inputs, credit, and technology. Moreover, promotion of experience-based learning to develop mentorship and training programs to capacitate the less experienced farmers should be considered by the stakeholders. Learning from the more seasoned professionals will help emerging/inexperienced farmers to gain the skills and knowledge needed to adopt efficient production techniques. Therefore, the situation underscores the multifaceted nature of technical efficiency in horticulture and highlights the importance of addressing these specific factors to improve vegetable farming productivity in the Leribe district of Lesotho.Item Open Access Health and socio-economic challenges faced by elderly people in rural communities of Lesotho(National University of Lesotho, 2021-06) Lekulo, Malekulo; Sehlabane, Katiso; ArunOld age is a global phenomenon and Lesotho elderly population seemed to grow at an alarming rate. Statistics showed that Lesotho’s elderly population is increasing rapidly and have a larger share than many countries since the population of elderly people constitutes 8.6 percent of the general population (Bureau of Statistics (BOS), 2016). The population of elderly people seemed to be faced with a lot of challenges such as chronic illnesses, abuse, and low or no income to cater for their needs. Despite the alarming increase in elderly people in Lesotho, the challenges faced by elderly people in rural areas are under-researched. The study investigated health and socio-economic challenge faced by elderly people in rural communities of Lesotho at Makhoa village in Leribe. A qualitative, phenomenological study was undertaken with a sample of twenty-one participants from both Makhoa village and the Ministry of Social Development (MoSD) at Hlotse Leribe. Of the twenty-one participants, eleven were elderly people, five community members, two local authorities (the chief, and the community councilor), and three MoSD officers (Elderly Care officer, Generic Social Worker, and Auxiliary Social Worker). Participants were selected using both purposive sampling and convenience sampling techniques and data was collected using semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion. Data analysis was done using the thematic analysis following six steps of data familiarization, generating initial codes, searching for and identifying themes, refining themes, defining and naming themes, and producing a report. The study found that elderly people’s physical and mental health were highly compromised since their health costs were very high especially for those with chronic illnesses, and mobility limitations due to ageing and HIV and AIDS and COVID-19. There were also social challenges established as loneliness and social isolation, the burden of care for grandchildren, mistreatment and elderly abuse, loss of personal autonomy, and social exclusion. The economic challenges included reduced income, economic exploitation, poverty and high cost of living, and economic insecurity. The study established that community members had negative attitudes towards elderly people like ageism stereotypes, labeling them witches, discriminated against them, and disrespected them. Lastly, it was found out that there were measures in place to address issues of elderly people like national policies, and Old Age Pension, there vi were no local structures for elderly people and family was the one playing a major role in care and support of elderly people. Consequently, the following recommendations were made to address the identified challenges facing elderly people at Makhoa village in Leribe, Lesotho. These include elderly programs, educational campaigns and awareness programs, elderly social clubs, saving groups, capacity building for families, and decentralization of health care facility to the rural Makhoa village in Leribe by the government amongst others.Item Metadata only The Lesotho Highlands Water Project and Sustainable Livelihoods(Africa Institute of South Africa (AISA), 2013) Mashinini, V. I.Dams have become an increasingly contested terrain in development discourse, prompting the United Nations (UN) to establish the World Commission on Dams (WCD) and adopt its Report in 2000. The bone of contention is whether dams promote or hinder sustainable development and livelihoods of the dam impacted areas and communities; and what needs to be done as mitigation of the dam impacts.This paper uses desktop methodology to explore the experiences of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) on sustainable livelihoods of its dam impacted areas and communities, and suggests policy implications for sustainable development in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). The paper concludes that the project failed to promote sustainable livelihoods in the dam impacted areas and communities, and proposes that SADC member states should not only make dam policies but enforce them, in order to guarantee that dam impacted areas and communities have better livelihoods.Item Open Access Production of probiotic yoghurt flavoured with the spice Aframomum danielli, Strawberry and Vanilla.(Food and Public Health, 2013) Adegoke, G. O.; Musebi, S.Probiotic yoghurt, pH 4.5, with acceptable organoleptic profiles was prepared using standard procedures. Flavouring of probiotic yoghurt was done using the spice Aframomum danielli, strawberry and vanilla. Samples flavoured with A.danielli , strawberry and vanilla though more viscous than ordinary yoghurt were generally preferred. Volatile components of A.danielli were extracted using diethyl ether, dried and concentrated followed by analysis using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry. Flavour components like 2-methyl-1-propen-1-yl, 3-methylbut-2-enyl and 1-methyl-4-(1-methylethyl) reported to provide the desirable aroma and taste in yoghurt were identified in A. danielli.Item Open Access The Role of block farming in assuring food security in Lesotho: the case of Berea, Leribe and Maseru districts(2018-03-01) Seboka, Bolebali Maitumeleng J; Tsepiso, RantsoMany developing countries are characterised by low levels of poverty caused mainly by food insecurity. There are different factors causing food insecurity in many developing countries, and changing climatic conditions especially severe drought is mentioned as the major one. However, high population increase is another cause of food insecurity in many developing countries, and Lesotho is not an exception. There are different measures used to solve the state of food insecurity in many countries, and increasing agricultural productivity is one of them. The Lesotho government has implemented different agricultural programmes to increase production in agriculture since colonialism. Although many colonial rural development strategies in Lesotho focused more on preventing and controlling soil erosion, there were some agricultural projects implemented in some parts of the country. The agricultural rural development programmes implemented in Lesotho since colonialism meant to reduce poverty and improve the living standards of people. And block farming is one of such agricultural development projects. Block farming is not a new agricultural rural development project in Lesotho. Block farming project was introduced in the Senqu River Valley Integrated Rural Development Project in the 1970s. The idea was to increase food production among Basotho farmers. This agricultural initiative was revived in the New Millennium. The government of Lesotho entered into sharecropping with subsistence farmers through block farming. The purpose of government was to reduce poverty by increasing agricultural food production in the country. And since the introduction of block farming, especially in the early stages of implementation, the lives of many farmers improved for the better. This is because they now cultivate their fields that have been left fallow for many years because of lack of agricultural inputs. However, of late, block farming is facing many challenges that affect agricultural production. As a result, it is not a profitable agricultural programme for many farmers.Item Metadata only Status of EM use and its economic implications in Africa with emphasis to Lesotho(Lesotho Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2014) Mohammed, J.