The Kingdom in the Sky is exporting its water and importing its hunger

Editorial: Irrigation & Water Scarcity — Lesotho Tribune Lesotho Tribune Opinion Agriculture & Environment Opinion The editorial position of the Lesotho Tribune Opinion · Agriculture & Water Lesotho sits atop some of the most abundant highland water in southern Africa, yet its smallholder farmers watch their crops wither through dry seasons that grow longer every decade. That contradiction is not fate. It is a policy failure, and it is entirely correctable. Seipati Matobo Opinion Lesotho is called the Kingdom in the Sky, and the name carries a certain agricultural irony. The country exports vast quantities of water to South Africa through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, a scheme that has generated billions in royalties and transformed the Vaal system into a reliable resource for Gauteng’s industry and households. Meanwhile, a smallholder farmer in Mohale’s Hoek watches the same highland rains run off eroded hillsides,...