AG-Scan workshop in Lesotho

10 – 12 April 2019

About the workshop

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security worked closely with the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), to carry out an agriculture sector self-assessment workshop (AG-Scan), from 10 to 12 April at the Avani Lesotho Hotel in Maseru.

The workshop, which was jointly facilitated by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security and Itad, aimed to strengthen the Lesotho governments’ ability to measure progress and report against the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Government priority targets in the agriculture sector. The workshop will lead to the development of an action plan on how to enhance national capacities for results-based management in the agriculture sector.

Different government ministries were involved in the exercise, including the Ministry of Planning, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Small Business and the Ministry of Forestry.

Participants said of their AG-Scan workshop experience:

“An event, like the one we have had whereby we are talking about monitoring and evaluation is very important because M&E itself is actually pivotal for development. It’s pivotal for evidence-based decision-making.” – Malefatsane Ratsoane, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security

“…what I’ll take away is a lot of knowledge just from the interaction with colleagues from different ministries and organisations who brought with them a lot of insights, a lot of pockets of knowledge and information channels, where now one is slightly more clever in terms of getting into organisations and knowing just where to find information, or at least where to find people who can lead you to the right sources of information and data.” – Phomolo Lebotsa, Wool and Mohair Promotion Project

“Monitoring and evaluation is very important, it’s critical because if you wake up everyday and go to work and never really know if you’re coming or going, you may end up doing the same things you shouldn’t be doing everyday without even knowing. It allows you to take stock of what you’re doing, to see where you’re going wrong and what your strengths are, so that at least it paves the direction for you.” – Mapula Makara, Lesotho National Farmers Union