At Tabaliatile village in Mohale’s Hoek district, southern Lesotho, a 56-year-old single mother of four children, Matlali Molefe is among the many hardest hit by the scarcity of water in the village. Gathering water for her family and to sustain her vegetable garden, an important source of nutrition and income, not only took all of Ms Molefe’s time but put her at risk of rape and attack.

Ms Molefe and many other community members walk long distances in search of water for household and vegetables garden consumption. The women also say the long trips are not safe due to attacks and incidents of rape by herd boys that tend livestock on the open plains they had to cross to find water.

“I had no idea how we would survive this year. As we speak, water scarcity has impacted on our ability to be productive, to grow crops in our gardens to sustain us for a month,” Ms Molefe said.

The Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility launched in Lesotho in April 2020 in four community councils in Mohale’s Hoek district: Khoelenya, Lithipeng, Qhoasing and Senqunyane. Tabaliatile lies in Qhoasing community council where LoCAL, using funds from the Africa Climate Change Fund of the African Development Bank, supported communities in resuscitating and expanding the rural water supply, after springs dried up due to the decline in ground water levels and erratic precipitation. Through a Performance Based Climate Resilience grant, the community constructed a new water tank, extended the pipe system and increased the number of standpipes to cover more households, schools and a clinic.

“As a result of the water supply project, we have plenty of water close to our households and we are able to cook and water our vegetables,” said Ms Molefe. “Our livelihoods have improved significantly due to the availability of water in our village”.

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All photos GrEEn Ghana Daniel Quashie 2023