Mainstreaming Climate Change Adaptation in School Curricula in Lesotho

Reducing climate change vulnerability through awareness raising and the dissemination of ecosystem management adaptation measures in schools

To improve the climate change challenges facing Lesotho the Reducing Vulnerability from Climate Change in the Foothills, Lowlands and the Lower Senqu River Basin (RVCC) project was adopted to enhance the capacity of technical personnel to manage climate change risks and strengthen the resilience of vulnerable communities. This process involved, among other actions, changing mindsets. Therefore, it was critical to target future generations, in particular young people at schools. 

The project was implemented by Lesotho’s Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation and supported by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF). The project mainstreamed climate risk considerations in Lesotho’s Land Rehabilitation Programme. The goal was improved ecosystem resilience and reduced vulnerability of livelihoods to climate shocks. 

One project activity was providing access to knowledge and training on adaptation using an ecosystem-management approach. After enhancing the technical capacities of the Ministry of Forestry, Range and Soil Conservation (MFRSC) and other relevant departments regarding the management of evolving climate-change risks and uncertainty, MFRSC and Ministry of Education officers partnered with a local NGO called Geography and Environment Movement to mobilize teachers and led a team that developed a climate change adaptation manual for schools. 

A rapid assessment of available resources was done at the targeted schools. The assessment informed development of the training manuals and the provision of agricultural inputs, such as shade nets, drip-irrigation system kits and water-harvesting tanks, for practical applications (for example, crop production to complement a school feeding programme). The project facilitated a five-day training for the schoolteachers and a two-day training for pupils in five environmental thematic areas: climate change, rangeland management, soil conservation, water and agriculture. 

The validation of the manual was followed by training of teachers, school board members, local authorities and learners from 27 schools. The launching of the manual reinforced the involvement of stakeholders in terms of awareness, capacity building and lifelong ownership, even beyond the lifespan of the project. In addition, before the launch, a meeting was held with senior officials from the ministries in charge of forestry and education and other line ministries and media briefs provided updates on the project’s progress and expected activities. This was another way of reinforcing the project’s ownership and sustainability measures. After the launch, a one-day workshop was held for principals, chiefs and their headmen as well as councillors for 27 beneficiary schools. The objective of the workshop was to inform member schools on how the project will intervene following material support and what is expected from them. 

The climate change adaptation manual for schools has been adopted by the Ministry of Education and the National Curriculum Development Centre with the intention of rolling it out to the rest of the district and the country. This initiative is building on other initiatives, such as a school feeding programmes aimed at enhancing nutrition for pupils from disadvantaged communities through protected crop production. Furthermore, a newly launched GEF-funded project implemented in the Thaba Tseka, Mafeteng and Quthing Districts is replicating this initiative. 

The activity has already reached 52 teachers and 1,170 students (538 males and 632 females) and the manual is still in use in 24 primary schools and three high schools. The launch of the manual at national and community council levels was a key event for raising climate change awareness and to draw technical support for climate change adaptation implementation; the launch was attended by 60 project partners and 413 students from three schools. 

The impacts of climate changes in Africa are wide ranging and in many cases are the primary drivers of vulnerability and poverty. As countries across Africa take steps to fulfil their Nationally Determined Contributions to the Paris Agreement, it will be essential to mainstream, scale up and accelerate climate change adaptation initiatives across the continent through South-South Cooperation. Therefore, the mainstreaming solution in this project holds high potential for South-South cooperation with other African countries faced with the serious challenges of climate change. Potential South-South exchanges can start with countries next to Lesotho, such as Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa, which experience similar climate change impacts and challenges. Such South-South exchanges on mainstreaming climate change adaptation approaches and management of climate risks can involve ministries of environment, education, other line ministries, NGOs and selected schools in those potential partner countries and can be further integrated into other ongoing climate change adaptation initiatives in those countries.