Lesotho

Lesotho is a southern African state completely surrounded by South Africa, without an outlet to the sea.

Its territory is predominantly mountainous, entirely located above 1000 meters of altitude and dominated by the Drakensberg chain and by the peak of Mount Thabana Ntlenyana which, with its 3482 meters, is the highest in Southern Africa. It has a rather poor vegetation, linked to seasonal and regional rainfall trends, which are concentrated in the summer months and on the eastern side, and make difficult both animal life and agriculture.

The frequent and persistent droughts heavily affect especially the rural population, most of the about 2 million inhabitants of the country, who live outside the main urban centers, and are subject to famines, precarious hygienic-sanitary conditions and epidemics.

Drought and other extreme climatic phenomena, such as floods and invasions of locust weeds, are aggravated by climate change and the precarious economic and social conditions of a very poor country, with an economy heavily dependent on that of its large South African neighbor.

MASE has started the cooperation with Lesotho in 2006 with the signing of a first Memorandum of understanding  which led to the development of two projects on alternative energies.

Counterpart:  Ministry of Energy and Meteorology of the Kingdom of Lesotho
Allocation: 2 million Euros, integrable
Intervention areas:

• promotion and development of renewable energies;
• development of a national system for measuring, reporting and verifying greenhouse gas emissions;
• development of renewable energies and increase in energy efficiency;
• actions to oppose the deforestation process and degradation of wooded areas, in synergy with the United Nations REDD+ Program.

Documentation - Memorandum of Understanding Italy - Lesotho (April 21, 2016, EN, IT)  - Lesotho Work Plan (October 20, 2016, EN)