Climate-smart agriculture and food security in Lesotho

Abstract

Climate change is the main issue affecting global food security. To address the effects of climate change on agricultural production and food security, Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) has been pushed as a solution. The purpose of this study was to get an understanding of how CSA contributes to food security in the Lesotho Thaba-Tseka Urban Council. Two theories, the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework and Resilience Theory, served as the theoretical foundation for this investigation. The theories' guiding principles supported how the results were interpreted. The study used a qualitative research methodology and the interpretivist paradigm. A case study design was used, and interviews were conducted with 30 purposively sampled smallholder farmers engaging in climate-smart agriculture in Thaba-Tseka Urban Council. According to the findings, implementation of CSA methods including keyhole gardening, conservation agriculture, water collection, suitable animal housing, and training by extension service providers have a big impact on food security. The findings also showed that, despite the existence of numerous tested, workable CSA response alternatives and related polices, Lesotho does not have a CSA policy. The study concludes that CSA helps to ensure food security and suggests that Lesotho develops a CSA policy. The study recommends that smallholder farmers use CSA techniques to the greatest extent possible in order to improve agricultural productivity and raise their prospects of achieving food security