Period covered by this Ops Update: 10 December 2012 to 30 April 2013. This update represents a six-month summary of the operation.
Appeal target (current): CHF 1,119,000
Appeal coverage: 32%
Appeal history:
This Emergency Appeal was initially launched on 15 October, 2012 for CHF 1,119,000 for 9 months to assist 8000 beneficiaries.
In December 2012, funds amounting to CHF 100,000 was contributed by the IFRC’s Disaster Relief Emergency Fund (DREF)
Operations Update no. 1 was issued on 31 October 2012 and Operations Update no. 2 on 27 November 2012.
Summary: Lesotho has been facing a food security crisis which has affected 725,215 people to date. Lesotho Red Cross Society (LRCS) launched an appeal in November 2012 to address the prevailing situation in the five districts of the country. In early December, activities were started to assist 1,600 households comprising of 8,000 beneficiaries in all five districts of Quthing, Mafeteng, Kena, Thaba-Tseka and Mokhotlong. Activities included both field and garden crops. The intended food aid commodities of pulses, beans, maize and oil had not been procured at the time due to limited funding
In December 2012, LRCS was able to procure the much needed food aid commodities. LRCS and IFRC through the Disaster Management Office agreed on a food aid modality which aimed to avoid a free handout (that is, distribution of food for free), instead the communities should decide on the community works which will benefit from food for work initiatives. These include for example, a soil conservation project was a priority targeting Mafeteng district due massive significant land degradation.
Registration extended to include households where the members are vulnerable but cannot do physical work; including households that are food insecure and further disadvantaged as they cannot carry out food for work activities due to their health status.
To date, seeds have been distributed and training given to food insecure households in coordination with relevant government stakeholders. Severe weather conditions, however, threaten to hamper progress made under this Emergency Appeal. Food distribution is in progress in the Mokhotlong district for general food distribution, food for work and nutrition.
On behalf of Lesotho Red Cross (LRCS), IFRC would like to thank all partners contributing to this appeal including British Red Cross, Japanese Red Cross, Red Cross of Monaco, Swiss Red Cross and Netherlands Red Cross who contributed to this operation so far.