MOKHATLO OA BA ITHUSANG HO ITSEBELETSA METSENG
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MOKHATLO OA BA ITHUSANG HO ITSEBELETSA METSENG |
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RSDA was registered in 1991 and became a project holder of the Food Security Assistance Project (FSAP). FSAP had been operating under the umbrella of the Lesotho Work-camps Association (LWA), since 1982. Since its inception, FSAP continued with rural development activities such as agricultural extension work, road construction, afforestation, erosion control, communal gardens and creation of income generating activities in the rural areas of the Mafeteng district, and most of these activities were implemented by means of food-for-work.
In 1992 when RSDA assumed its responsibility for FSAP, a new participatory approach was introduced and food-for-work was completely withdrawn. Instead RSDA was established in an effort to replace the paternalistic approach to rural development which tended to take away the initiative of rural Basotho people. The paternalistic approach was replaced with the self-help oriented approach, which provides useful support without destroying the self-initiative, self-determination and responsibility of developing communities. The move was taken in order to ensure that implementation of ideas pertaining to rural development will be successful. For this reason, RSDA from the start involved and encouraged people to participate actively in the process of defining precisely their real needs for planning, implementation and monitoring of their projects.