Lesotho Emergency and Resilience Programme (ERP), implemented by FAO and the Government of Lesotho since 2012, has been retained as Finalist in the “Expo Milano 2015 Call for Best Sustainable Development Practices (BSDP)”. The BSDP is a competition organised by the Universal Exposition taking place in Milan (Italy) from 1st of May to 31st of October 2015 having as a theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life”.
Out of a total of 786 initiatives submitted worldwide, 18 were awarded as winners and 32 were finalists. Lesotho Emergency and Resilience Programme (ERP) aims to increase Basotho’s food security and natural resource base through integrated sustainable agriculture practices. ERP promotes the national upscale and adoption of Climate Smart Agriculture practices such as Conservation Agriculture (CA) and improved Home Gardening as well as nutrition awareness.
The realisation of ERP would not have been possible without the constant dedication and support provided by the staff of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) and the Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation (MFLR) as well as the members of the National CA Task Force, Home Gardening and Nutrition Working Group (HGNWG) and HPG Advertising. The ERP is funded by the European Commission Humanitarian Aid and Civil Protection (ECHO), the British Department for International Development (DFID), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Office of U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA), the Central Emergency Relief Fund (CERF), Swiss Development Cooperation (SDC) and Belgium.
