Lesotho: boost for meat sector
The government of Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by South Africa, has launched a programme to help farmers create an income from meat and skins, as well as from wool and mohair.
The Wool and Mohair Promotion Project is being coordinated by the Agriculture, Food Security and Marketing Ministry with input from the OPEC Fund for International Development and the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers Association.
Wool and mohair smallholder farmers are dependent on income from sales of fibre, and in the absence of reliable markets, there has been minimal incentive for rearing livestock for meat production, reported the Lesotho Times.
The government wants to develop the meat industry, as well as the hides and skins sub-sector, to reduce dependency on mohair and said the livestock sector has enormous potential in poverty alleviation.
Once markets have been set up, the management of the facilities will be handed over to private companies.
