HA TSIU, Makoanyane Letsoara, a subsistence farmer in Ha Tsiu, a village 100km east of Maseru, capital of Lesotho, is in his forties and the sole supporter of his family of six - his mother, wife, children and younger siblings.

“It has been a difficult year. We did not produce enough maize, but I planted all my seeds because I did not want to restrict my ability to help others in the village. The bigger harvest I will have will help me help others.

“Last year was a bad year; this year had also not been good. There is no work on the farms; it is difficult to earn money. As an alternative I tried to sell apples, but there are no outlets for us. We need someone to help us market our produce, we need some support to build stalls to market our produce outside the village. People in the village cannot afford to buy.

“This year has really been bad. I also had hens - ten of them - but a disease killed them all early in the year. It was a strange disease - we think it is the bird flu, we heard about it on the radio. All the birds in the village – must be around 100 – all were wiped out by the disease.

“We want to find solutions; it is good to talk and find solutions. We learn from each other.”