Maseru, May 11 — The 15 day Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment (LVA) kicked off on Monday in Maseru.
The exercise which is being carried out by District Disaster Management Teams (DDMTs) is done annually, to assess food and nutrition security as well as accessibility of households across the country.
District Disaster Management Team (DDMT) is a local-level organization responsible for coordinating disaster management efforts within a specific district. It typically includes representatives from various government departments, local organizations and community groups.
The DDMT’s role is to prepare for, respond to and recover from disasters, ensuring the safety and well-being of the community.
Addressing the DDMT members, Acting District Disaster Manager Mrs. Sophie Ralejoe urged them to work effortlessly in these 15 days to collect accurate and reliable data.
She mentioned that Maseru district is very big with its foothills, mountains, lowlands, rural and urban but emphasised that they should cover all the households and be patient with Basotho so that they can get expected information.
LVA in Maseru covers areas like Linakotseng, Ha Ramakhetheng, Morija, Semonkong, Ha Ramabanta, Roma, Mohale, Matsieng, Machache, Thaba-Bosiu to mention a few.
LVA is supported by the World Food Programme (WFP) to a tune of 77,000 US dollars (M1,273,195.00). The exercise which started on Monday (May 11) will end on May 25 with 300 villages to be covered across the country.
Meanwhile, the 2025 Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment (LVA) highlights escalating food insecurity driven by climate change, with approximately 334,000 to nearly 700,000 people projected to face acute food insecurity (IPC Phase 3 or higher) across 2024–2026, driven by high food prices, low agricultural output and poverty.
Similar exercise has also kicked off in all the other nine districts.
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