LESOTHO: UN FLASH APPEAL FOR FOOD SHORTAGE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MASERU 000491 SIPDIS SIPDIS DEPT ALSO FOR AF/S; USAID/DCHA/FFP ALSO FOR WHAMMINCK, JDWORKEN, TANDERSON, LPETERSON, SGILBERT; USAID/DCHA/OFDA ALSO FOR CPRATT, KLUU, GGOTTLIEB, AFERRARA USAID/AFR ALSO FOR ELOKEN, LDOBBINS; PRETORIA ALSO FOR USAID PDISKIN, JWESSEL, HHALE, NMANGQALAZA; ROME FOR USUN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAID EAGR ECON PGOV PREL UN LT SUBJECT: LESOTHO: UN FLASH APPEAL FOR FOOD SHORTAGE REF: Maseru 403 MASERU 00000491 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. SUMMARY: On August 2, the United Nations invited donors and representatives of the Government of Lesotho to the official launch of a flash appeal for food aid, stating that the need in Lesotho was nearly $19 million. GOL representatives explained that the need was beyond its capacity to address, but announced some efforts to address the problem such as the subsidization of cornmeal -- a basic staple in Lesotho. While Charge announced a robust U.S. response to the current crisis, most other diplomatic missions are still in a much earlier stage of their reaction to Lesotho's food insecurity situation. END SUMMARY. -------------- The UN Appeal -------------- ¶2. On August 2, the United Nations officially launched a flash appeal for assistance from international donor missions and NGOs in response to a serious drought and crop failure, calculating the overall food assistance need in Lesotho at nearly $19 million. The flash appeal followed the Prime Minister's July 9 declaration of a national food deficit of 30,000 metric tons of basic food staples, projected to effect 553,000 people. Representatives from the European Union, Irish Aid, the South African High Commission, the U.S. Embassy, DFID, World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and the Government of Lesotho attended the event. ¶3. In its appeal, the UN identified key priority needs in six sectors: agriculture, early crop recovery, food provision, health, nutrition protection, and water/sanitation. The UN calculated the full need to be at $22.7 million, though $3.8 million of this need had already been met by the UN's Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF),bringing to total need to just under $19 million. -------------- Lesotho's Response -------------- ¶4. Lesotho's Principal Secretary of Finance and Development Planning indicated that the minimum immediate need for food aid amounted to $8.4 million, but Lesotho's 2007/2008 Contingency Fund only contained Maluti 5.4 million (approximately $771,000) as of July 13. He stated that meeting the food shortage gap through government financing would risk the nation's default on its public sector deficit threshold of 3% of GDP by year's end. Nevertheless, the Government had reallocated $19 million of its resources to addressing long-term food insecurity issues, slotting $12 million to "cash for work" projects in the land reclamation sphere and $6 million to improving agricultural production. The government also allocated funds to the Ministry of Trade and Industry to subsidize cornmeal prices by 10%. -------------- A Strong U.S. Government Response... -------------- ¶5. Charge noted that on July 10, the U.S. Embassy declared a food insecurity disaster in Lesotho (reftel) following the Prime Minister's July 9 declaration. Charge indicated that, to date, the USG had pledged to Lesotho 10,200 metric tons of food aid, valued at $7.93 million. Charge also mentioned other food aid initiatives current in the approval process, such as $6 million in support for a C-SAFE (a NGO consortium comprised of World Vision, Catholic Relief Services, and CARE) food security project, a $550,000 World Vision seed aid project aimed at MASERU 00000491 002.2 OF 002 protecting future harvests, and a $400,000 USAID irrigation rehabilitation and improvement initiative. -------------- ...Other Donors Weaker -------------- ¶6. The majority of other donors stated that issue is still under consideration by their governments. The DFID representative noted that a British government mission will arrive in mid-August to assess the situation. Lesotho's Principal Secretary of Finance and Development Planning noted the recent approval of a $500,000 food-related grant from the African Development Bank to be channeled through the World Food Program. -------------- U.S. Still Leader on Food Aid -------------- ¶7. COMMENT: As the donor comments at this session demonstrated, the United States is by far the largest donor to address Lesotho's current food insecurity situation. The GOL appears to be taking a more long-term approach, trying to improve the outlook for future harvests, leaving the immediate needs of vulnerable populations to donors. The GOL's proposed 10% subsidy on maize will likely be politically popular in the Mountain Kingdom, but it will not specifically target vulnerable populations. The UN flash appeal session did demonstrate that the international community is aware of Lesotho's food insecurity crisis, and that at least some donors will do something about it. END COMMENT. MURPHY