The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has received a significant contribution of JPY 200 million (approximately US$1.36 million) from the Government of Japan to support Lesotho’s national school feeding programme. This funding will be used over the next year to provide hot, nutritious meals to 50,000 pre-primary school children across the country.
The contribution aims to ensure consistent access to school meals, which is expected to boost student attendance and improve learning outcomes. It will also help expand the home-grown school meals programme by connecting smallholder farmers to schools, thereby strengthening Lesotho’s local food systems and agricultural economy.
WFP’s Country Director in Lesotho, Mr. Elliot Vhurumuku, expressed deep appreciation for Japan’s continued support. He noted that over the past five years, Japan’s contributions have helped maintain the national school feeding programme and promote climate-resilient food systems and sustainable livelihoods.
Lesotho continues to recover from a recent severe drought and is facing economic challenges, including high unemployment, rising food prices, and reduced household purchasing power. These conditions increase the urgency of targeted support to prevent more people from falling into food insecurity.
Japan’s Ambassador to Lesotho, H.E. Shimizu Fumio, emphasized the country’s commitment to supporting food security in Lesotho. He expressed hope that the assistance would help meet the nutritional needs of vulnerable households and improve the health and wellbeing of children affected by these socio-economic challenges.
Japan has been a key partner of WFP in Lesotho for over a decade, consistently providing vital funding to sustain and strengthen the school feeding programme and other food security initiatives.
