Case Study on Institutional Change of the National Agricultural Research System in Lesotho

This paper examines the design and implementation of a package of capacity strengthening
interventions undertaken between March 2007 and March 2011, which aimed to enhance the
performance of the national agricultural research system (NARS) in Lesotho. It also identifies some
initial outcomes from these interventions and makes recommendations to sustain the process of
organisational and institutional change and build on the results that have been achieved. The paper
is the first of three case studies which investigate the application of a holistic approach to capacity
strengthening developed through the project ‘Strengthening Capacity for Agricultural Research and
Development (SCARDA)’ which was coordinated by the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa.