Lesotho

A workshop on enhancing stakeholder participation was held for the area Chiefs of Kueneng and Mapoteng from 5 - 6 July 2010. The main objective of the training workshop was to impart to the area chiefs of Kueneng and Mapoteng knowledge and skills which were acquired from the similar workshop that was provided to some Principal Chiefs, Community Based Organizations, NGO's and Government officials. This training workshop was sponsored by FAO through the National Forestry Program Facility and was organized by the Department of Forestry.

Workshop participants/Participants de l’atelier/ Participantes del taller

The facilitator's team was composed of some participants of the previous training workshop on enhancing stakeholder participation in NFP. They were Mrs. S. Qhobela, the lead facilitator, and the Director of Forestry and the Senior Forestry Officer of the Extension and Training Office, who provided assistance. Mrs. Qhobela training as a facilitator was acquired with the assistance of FAO so that she becomes a trainer of trainers.

In general the training workshop was successful. All the 20 invited area chiefs were present. The participants concluded that they acquired very important knowledge from the facilitators. They also had a chance to practice the fishbowl method which they said they could use during the public gatherings in their areas. They further mentioned that the 3Rs and the participatory ranking methods and tools were easy to use in the execution of their duties, especially related to forestry issues. In the training, the chiefs used these methods to identify all key forestry stakeholders and who of the stakeholders is responsible for forest management, who has rights and who receives most benefits or revenue. Some participants felt that the time allocated for the training was too short especially when there are other tools/methods which were not discussed. 

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Workshop participants/ Participantes del taller

The Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation, Department of Forestry with the financial support from FAO and the NFP Facility, held a training from 16 - 21 May 2010 at the Blue Mountain on "Enhancing stakeholder participation in the national forest programme of Lesotho". FAO provided a lead facilitator based in Uganda, Mr. Joseph Ssuuna, and a co-facilitator, Mr. Teboho Maliehe based in Lesotho.

The workshop was attended by 20 participants who were representatives of different government ministries (Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation, Ministry of Local Government and Chieftainship and Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security), Non-Governmental Organizations, Private Sector and Community based organizations.

The objective of the workshop was to further develop realistic and relevant technical skills and appropriate methods which forestry decision makers and practitioners can employ in order to facilitate participation in the Lesotho NFP.

The workshop was run in a manner that facilitated sharing of ideas, reflection, critical analysis and debate. The workshop methods included presentations by the participants, analytical exercises, method – testing, role play, field program, structured debate and action planning exercises. During this period different tools / methods were discussed and practiced.

The participants of the workshop were satisfied with the facilitation, transmission and articulation of the methods that were used to transmit the information and impart knowledge by the facilitators. The content of the course was of most importance to the participants, they have acquired skills and methods that would assist them to participate more actively in their nfp process. One of the important outcomes of the training workshop was the development of an action plan for the Lesotho NFP whereby an agreement was made that the National NFP steering committee will work as a task team for implementation of the plan.

This training workshop was officially opened by the acting Principal Secretary, Ministry of Forestry and Land Reclamation and was closed by the Principal Chief of Kueneng and Bela-Bela.