MASERU – Lesotho is looking to strengthen farmers’ resilience to climate-related risks through the Smart Subsidy and Agriculture Insurance programme, with an end-line evaluation highlighting progress in farmers’ access to agricultural resources and understanding of insurance.

Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food Security and Nutrition, Mr. Khothatso Ts’oana, said climate shocks continued to affect agricultural production, particularly among smallholder farmers, making it important to move from responding to disasters towards building resilience in advance.

He said the Smart Subsidy and Agriculture Insurance initiative offered an approach to managing agricultural risks while supporting farmers and encouraging investment in agriculture.

Presenting the findings, WFP Programme Officer and Head of Vulnerability Analysis and Mapping/Monitoring and Evaluation Ms. Likeleli Phoolo said approximately 70 percent of farmers reported that the programme had influenced decision-making within their families.

She said  the findings showed little difference between commercial and smallholder farmers in this regard, although the two groups differed in how they translated programme support into farming practices.

She said  the commercial farmers appeared more confident in applying the support to farm planning and financial management, while smallholder farmers benefited particularly from improved access to agricultural resources.

Ms. Phoolo said the evaluation also examined farmers’ understanding of agricultural insurance, their confidence in the scheme and their willingness to participate in future initiatives.

She indicated that insurance sensitisation had helped improve farmers’ understanding of the scheme, although further education was needed to clarify the conditions under which compensation could be paid.

She recommended strengthening insurance literacy and transparency, particularly by clearly explaining insurance principles, payout conditions and rainfall thresholds used to determine whether compensation is payable.

She said Clearer communication about payout decisions would help farmers understand how the scheme operates and could strengthen their confidence in agricultural insurance.

Ms. Phoolo said the evaluation also highlighted the importance of continued government support and engagement with other stakeholders to improve implementation and extend the benefits of agricultural support to more farmers.

She further recommended improving the timeliness of agricultural input distribution and strengthening communication with farmers at community level.

She said  findings also identified misunderstandings among some farmers about subsidised input prices, with some reportedly expecting agricultural inputs to be provided free of charge.

Ms. Phoolo noted that the absence of a comparison group limited the study’s ability to establish whether the reported changes resulted solely from the programme. The assessment also relied on farmers’ reported experiences and perceptions.

The evaluation provides information that could help guide improvements to the programme and inform future efforts to strengthen agricultural risk management in Lesotho.