Linking agriculture and social protection for food security: The case of Lesotho

In July 2013 FAO Lesotho began a pilot initiative called the Linking Food Security to Social Protection Programme (LFSSP). The programme's objective was to improve the food security of poor and vulnerable households by providing vegetable seeds and training on improved homestead gardening. The programme was intentionally provided to households eligible for a large-scale social cash transfer, the Child Grants Programme (CGP). In this paper we present findings from the impact evaluation of the two programmes. Overall we find positive effects of the programmes on homestead gardening and productive agricultural activities. Many of these observed outcomes appear driven by the combination of the two programmes. An additional year of CGP along with one year of the LFSSP achieved a number of outcomes which two years of receiving the CGP alone did not. This pilot has been used as the basis for the design of a national upscale response to El Nino drought in Lesotho including Home Gardening and Nutrition assistance for all CGP beneficiaries who were affected by a sharp increase of food prices.