APPSA Lesotho Hosts Baseline Report Validation Workshop

18 Dec 2021

A Baseline report validation workshop was virtually held on the 16th December, 2021 at the Department of Agricultural Research of the Ministry of Agriculture, Marketing and Food Security. APPSA is a regional project sponsored by World Bank which seeks to promote regional collaboration in technology generation and dissemination among SADC participating countries. Lesotho has chosen horticulture-based farming system as Regional Center of Leadership (RCoL) or commodity of excellence.

A Baseline survey is a study that is undertaken at the beginning of a project to ascertain the current status or situation on the ground before a project commences. On the basis of Baseline findings, the progress and impact of APPSA project would be measured particularly during project mid-term review and phase-out.

The event was officially opened by the Director Agricultural Research - Dr. Lefulesele Lebesa. The Director welcomed all participants for taking their valuable time to attend the workshop. She further applauded the World Bank for taking a bold decision of investing in initiatives such as APPSA. Dr. Lebesa wished all participants fruitful deliberations and urged everyone to fully participate in the workshop; as the baseline survey report validation is a collective effort of all stakeholders present.

Participants in this validation workshop were drawn from various stakeholders such as: farmers’ representative, Implementing partner institutions thus the National University of Lesotho and Lesotho Agricultural College, Researchers from the Department of Agricultural Research (DAR), Department of Planning and Policy Analysis of the Ministry of Agriculture, Marketing and Food Security, Bureau of statistics as well as Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. The Center for Coordination of Agricultural Research and Development for Southern Africa (CCARDESA) was also represented. The event was conducted through Virtual Conferencing at DAR premises and participants that could not attend the workshop physically had a chance to take part virtually.