FAO’S Rural Markets Best Hope for Many Small-scale Farmers
Julius Ncheche has seen many things in his 68 years, but he can’t remember such a terrible drought as the one which blighted Lesotho’s most recent harvest.

The drought was so severe that his government declared a state of emergency in July following a United Nations survey that estimated that 30% of the country’s
people would need humanitarian assistance.
With no time to waste, and in effort to stave off another year of disastrous harvests,
the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) jumped into action.

FAO appealed for funds and immediately began planning agricultural input trade fairs, also known as seed fairs, to be held in all ten districts of Lesotho. “FAO has a mandate to respond to agricultural emergencies. In this case drought was the trigger,” FAO’s Emergency Coordinator for Lesotho explained. US$ 3.5 million was quickly received – from the CERF, ECHO and the Government of Norway.
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