The Berea District Disaster Management Team (DDMT) has embarked
on preparations to mitigate the anticipated effects of El Nino, following
a warning by the Lesotho Meteorological Services (LMS) of below-
average rainfall. The DDMT is holding a two-day training in Pitseng,
Leribe, aimed at strengthening its capacity in disaster preparedness,
coordinated information dissemination and measures to mitigate the
impact of El Nino-related weather events on different social groups.
Addressing participants, Disaster Management Authority (DMA) Berea
District Disaster Manager Mrs. Nts’ilane Baholo Maliehe said DDMT
members often found themselves responding to the effects of climate
change. She said the current training was taking place at a critical stage,
as the country was preparing for the projected El Nino conditions.
Mrs. Maliehe said findings by the Lesotho Vulnerability Assessment
Committee (LVAC) indicated that 23 percent of the country’s
population was food insecure, describing this as another pressing
concern requiring the team to intensify its efforts.
She noted that many people found it difficult to understand how El
Nino could affect their livelihoods after experiencing a season
characterised by heavy rainfall. Mrs. Maliehe stressed that projected
weather events should serve as a warning for DDMT members to
understand their roles and responsibilities, saying disaster management
was not only about responding during crises.
“Your duties are not only centred on distribution of food packages for
vulnerable people, or attending to houses blown away by heavy winds,
but you are mandated to ensure that Basotho are well equipped with
knowledge on climate change and how to build resilience,” she said.

She said through the Improving Adaptive Capacity of Vulnerable and
Food-Insecure Population in Lesotho (IACOV) project in 2024, the team
managed to reach even hard-to-reach areas of Berea with climate
change information.
“Now that we are heading towards below-average rainfall conditions
which are likely to trigger drought, that demands decisive action from
every individual and department in minimising the impact of the
projected El Nino,” she said.
Mrs. Maliehe commended IACOV for including Extension Officers from
agricultural resource centres in the training, saying they played an
important role in food security.
She also welcomed the participation of key stakeholders, including the
Lesotho National Federation of Organisations of the Disabled (LNFOD),
stressing the need for early warning messages that reach all sections of
society, as weather events affect different groups in different ways.
She reminded participants that disaster risk reduction was everyone’s
responsibility and not the sole responsibility of the DMA.
She also called for the revival of the District Planning Unit (DPU) to
promote collective planning of district development projects instead of
ministries and departments working in isolation.
IACOV Project Coordinator Mr. Nkopo Matsepe said the country was
facing a potentially critical situation due to the projected El Nino,
requiring intensive preparedness measures.
Mr. Matsepe said since 2021, IACOV, the Early Warning Project and
other stakeholders had supported LMS with automated weather
stations, which had contributed to improved reliability of weather
forecasts.

He stressed the need to understand the socio-economic groups within
communities to ensure that El Nino preparedness messages reached
the intended audiences effectively. Representing the LMS Climate
Change Unit, Ms. Mants’ebo Shoaepane explained that El Nino was a
climate phenomenon associated with unusual warming of the central
and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean.
She said the phenomenon could influence atmospheric circulation and
rainfall patterns beyond the Pacific and contribute to weather events
such as drought. Ms. Shoaepane said Lesotho was highly exposed to
climate-related hazards, including drought, floods, heavy rainfall,
severe storms, heavy snowfall, frost, strong winds and rising
temperatures.
“Climate change is a cross-cutting issue with hazards that can affect
agriculture, water, infrastructure, people’s livelihoods, health,
ecosystems and economic activities,” she said.

She said the National Climate Change Policy recognised the need to
mainstream climate considerations into national development, adding
that individuals, institutions and ministries had a responsibility to
understand risks, integrate responses, implement actions, generate
data and report results. Representing the Department of Gender, Ms.
Mahali Sekants’i Rankone said climate change had negative
implications for gender roles, citing changes in migration patterns that
had resulted in some women becoming breadwinners. She said such
changes could expose families to abuse and other vulnerabilities, while
some children had been left in child-headed households.
Ms. Rankone said climate risks affected men and women differently,
noting that women and girls could be exposed to abuse when they

travelled long distances in search of water, while men often migrated in
search of better livelihoods, leaving families vulnerable.
She stressed the importance of gender mainstreaming during disaster
preparedness and response, urging DDMT members to consider
equality and inclusion when targeting vulnerable groups. DDMT
members were also briefed on the National Climate Change Policy
during the training.