Local supplier development program in Lesotho

About the project

Country: Lesotho

Period: July 2021 – June 2022

Project partner: United Nations Development Program (UNDP)

Objective: The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat partnered with the United Nations Development Program (UNPD) to implement a project as part of Lesotho’s national recovery agenda through the United Nations‘ COVID-19 response strategy. The goal was to promote an economy complementing the national recovery agenda. This included building capacity and resilience of the local agricultural sector to produce and supply the local market through sustainable production, processing, and marketing processes.

Approach: In collaboration with local stakeholders, UNDP implemented activities towards private sector mobilization. This included building capacities of agricultural experts to act as consultants to producers in Lesotho to support them in complying with regulations and requirements of regional and international markets in the horticulture and livestock sector. The project also facilitated market links for economic recovery and employment opportunities, especially for women and young people. The GLOBALG.A.P. Secretariat adapted its training methods to provide online training in the implementation and assessment of the GLOBALG.A.P. Integrated Farm Assurance (IFA) standard as well as training in the implementation of additional GLOBALG.A.P. topics including Quality Management Systems (QMS), internal inspector trainings, and the GLOBALG.A.P. Risk Assessment on Social Practice (GRASP).

SDGs addressed: #3 Good health and well-being, #8 decent work and economic growth, and #17 partnerships for the goals

Outcome: A total of 43 participants from across the horticulture and livestock sectors successfully completed the trainings. Each expert coached at least five producers in the implementation of the IFA standard for fruit and vegetables. A National Technical Working Group (NTWG) was also set to develop a National Interpretation Guideline (NIG) for Lesotho to facilitate the certification environment. In October of 2022, 10 delegates visited South Africa as an important regional target market. However, all further activities for this project were put on hold due to the political situation in Lesotho.