China donates rice worth M50 million to Lesotho through the World Food Program

On April 12, 2019, United Nations World Food Program(WFP) held a ceremony in Shanghai to send emergency food aid from China to African countries, including Lesotho. On September 12, 2019, Lesotho received parboiled rice of 3157 metric tons amounting to M50 million (Maloti is the plural form of Lesotho's currency unit Loti) from the China government. In 2018, China agreed to provide food aid to Lesotho, and the donation was divided into three batches that all arrived in Maseru, and this M50 million rice donation is the last batch in the three divisions. Since 2016, China has been providing emergency food aid to Lesotho, and this assistance has increased yearly, in which more than 1.6 million Basotho have benefited from the Chinese emergency food aid program. On February 10th, 2020, The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of China have signed agreements to provide food assistance to Yemen, Lesotho, Dominican Republic, and the Republic of Congo to respond to their food needs outlined in recent Humanitarian Response Plans. The agreements were signed by WFP’s high-level management and the China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA). Established in 2018, CIDCA is China’s new governmental agency that oversees foreign aid.

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