HA MOSITI is a village of about 2,500 people clustered on the hillside in the district of Motati, 45 kms outside Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, the mountain kingdom in the Drakensberg.
If one passes the picturesque village, which is on the main road, one will see three structures taking shape in a green field. According to Dr Abdul Karim Elgoni, a former Sudanese politician chair of the Africa Diaspora Forum and philanthropist, these are greenhouses.
The brainchild of the Green Crescent Society of Lesotho and supported by Awqaf SA, the greenhouses are the direct result of three boreholes being drilled in the vicinity to support the local communities.
According to Dr Elgoni, the greenhouses will be 9 meters by 6 meters in size and are an attempt to address Lesotho’s dependency on imported foodstuffs – Lesotho is said to import R100 million worth of vegetables annually – and to empower its citizens to be more self- sufficient.
“We have managed to get the local department of agriculture to help us with seeds, and we are looking to appoint three qualified people to run the greenhouses from day one. Their job will be to pass on their skills so that we create a sustainable operation that will not only feed the locals, but supply the markets,” he said, adding that the idea was to establish a Green Crescent shop to sell the goods.
Dr Elgoni paid tribute to the local chief, Malihe Mohale, who has lent his full support to the project. He also mentioned Abdullah Mohale, on whose land the greenhouses have been constructed.
“Whilst we enrich the local community, this is also a golden opportunity to let the beauty of Islam shine in the area,” he said.
More Info:
Zeinoul Cajee (Chief Executive Officer)
+2721 697 3556 | info@awqafsa.org.za
