In 2011, the Government of Lesotho secured funding from the Global Environment Facility’s Least Developed Country Fund to reduce the negative impacts of climate change on vulnerable communities.

A central approach of the project was to build the resilience of vulnerable communities by strengthening Lesotho’s climate information and forecasting systems, which contribute to communities’ adaptive capacity regarding preparation for extreme weather events.

In addition, the project piloted a range of local adaptation strategies in six villages from three districts, including crop diversification, water harvesting techniques, restoring grasslands with resilient species, participatory pasture management, and erosion control with stone lines, among others. The project also provided critical inputs for Lesotho’s climate adaptation policy framework and increased public understanding of climate change through awareness-raising campaigns.

An analysis of project components produced key lessons regarding best practices for community engagement, monitoring and evaluation, policy mainstreaming, and much more. These lessons are now informing Phase II of the project.