It is an immense honour for me to witness the launch of the Master of Science in Integrated Catchment and Water Resources Management (MSc ICWRM) Programme.

This initiative, developed under the framework of ReNOKA, marks a significant milestone for Lesotho, the “water tower of Southern Africa”, and the entire region, in the pursuit of sustainable land and water management.

It is also an important milestone for the National University of Lesotho in its relentless effort to provide students with skills that prepare them for the challenges of the world out there.

And out there, Bo-‘M’e le Bo-Ntate, one challenge stands above all, the challenge of climate change.

Its impacts are before our own eyes. No day goes by without news from around the world about extreme weather events.

Climate change has a significant impact on water resources in Southern Africa.

Here in Lesotho, climate change exacerbates a challenge the country has been grappling with for a long time, due to its unique geography, and many other factors, soil erosion.

At the current rate, Lesotho is already losing at least 4,500 tonnes of top soil every hour. This is compounded by the impact of climate change.

Soil erosion threatens the very basis of our life, upon which our nourishment depends.

Heavy storms wash soils down the country’s slopes, silting up reservoirs and dams and reducing their life span, degrading the quality and amount of the water available, damaging roads and bridges, and other key infrastructure.

In this regard, the management of water, land and soil resources in Lesotho is critical to improve agricultural productivity, food security, climate resilience, and access to clean and sustainable water and energy.

ReNOKA is trying to address all these challenges, through concrete actions implemented with the support of local communities, using a decentralised approach, innovative nature-based solutions, and indigenous knowledge as a precious resource to meet today’s challenges of conservation.

I am often asked – and indeed, I often ask myself – how do we make sure that these efforts are sustainable?

Part of the answer is: by working together. To be sustainable, beyond the lifespan of this or that project, we cannot afford to work in silos.

Like individual streams that meet to form a river and sustain life - as the word ReNOKA itself “we are a river” implies – we must work as a network of individuals, communities, professionals, and leaders coming together to contribute to the restoration of water, land, and the long-term prosperity of all Basotho.

The other way to be sustainable is through the establishment of solid institutions and a strong legal framework.

The current revision of the Water Act provides a unique opportunity to consolidate the work done to develop solid integrated catchment management institutions and enshrine them in a long-term legal basis.

But what is most important, more than infrastructure, more than institutions, are the people without whom none of this would be possible. 

The people who will be building and taking care of the infrastructure, the people who will be working within the institutions.

The investment we make today through this Master Programme is an investment in the next generation of natural resources management professionals.

Through high-quality education and training, today’s students will become tomorrow’s driving force behind transformative and sustainable change in Lesotho and the entire region.

As the programme takes flight, I encourage the students to embrace their roles as future custodians of our precious planet.

With your passion and dedication, I am confident that you will lead future developments in integrated catchment management and strengthen Lesotho’s role in regional water diplomacy.

To conclude, allow me to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all those who worked tirelessly to make this Master Programme possible: the National University of Lesotho’s Water Institute, Water Net, the Council of Higher Education, and the entire ReNOKA team.

Thank you.