Bon appétit in Lesotho

EU staff are among the latest converts in Lesotho to keyhole gardening – a vegetable growing technique introduced to the country by Send a Cow.

Staff at the European Union Delegation in the capital Maseru built a keyhole garden in a single day, and were soon harvesting spinach, radish, aubergines and peppers. The dome-shaped gardens are built around a central compost basket, and are particularly useful in areas where soil is poor.

At the official inauguration of the EU Delegation’s garden on Friday 17 February, Agriculture and Food Security Minister the Honourable Ralechate Lincoln ‘Mokose MP spoke of visiting Send a Cow projects in the country, and seeing how keyhole gardens enabled families to grow food to eat and sell even during dry periods.

He added that his Ministry had facilitated the building of almost 10,000 keyhole gardens in the previous year, and hoped for a further 16,500 in the coming year. Several other non-governmental organisations also now promote the technique, which has become widespread in the tiny mountainous country.

“Each household is sufficiently endowed with a sustainable supply of vegetables for home consumption, with surpluses available for sale among community members for income generation,” said Mr ‘Mokose.

“Consequently, a majority of households are both nutrition and food secure. This also goes a long way in the mitigation of HIV/Aids.”

The Head of the EU Delegation in Lesotho, Hans Duynhouwer, said that while keyhole gardens were not the only answer to Lesotho’s severe agricultural challenges, they did “play a very useful role”.

He explained that they enable families to vary their diets; encourage an efficient use of scarce water resources; educate children about growing; and involve all members of the family in producing food.

“The EU’s support to keyhole gardens has been very successful in Lesotho. As the EU-funded Send a Cow project in Mafateng and Mohale’s Hoek demonstrates, families with keyhole gardens now grow enough for their own consumption; they can even obtain extra cash through the sale of occasional surpluses.”

About two-thirds of Lesotho's food is imported, and less than 10 per cent of the land mass is arable. Many families' diet are poor in both quantity and quality, and it is estimated that more than 13 per cent of children there are affected by growth retardation.