Lesotho: The Mountain Men Behind Lesotho's Wool Wealth

At dawn in the highlands of Mokhotlong, the sheep begin to move before the sun fully reaches the mountain slopes. Wrapped in a thick Basotho blanket against the cold, Khotso Tšoeu whistles from a rocky ridge above Lekhalong-la-Lithunya, guiding hundreds of sheep slowly into the valley below.

For months at a time, this remote stone hut in Lesotho's mountains is his home.

Tšoeu is responsible for 500 sheep and 50 goats belonging to his employer. The goats have already been driven to Matsoku for dipping, part of the process farmers follow to protect the quality of wool and mohair that will eventually be sold on international markets.

"We dip the sheep and goats, vaccinate them, and give them medicine to ensure that the wool and mohair are clean and of good quality," he says. "We start shearing goats on the first of April. We hope to finish towards the end of May so that the mohair will have started growing again by the time winter arrives."

Across Lesotho's rugged highlands, thousands of herders like Tšoeu spend their lives tending livestock that produce some of the world's finest mohair and wool. In a country where formal employment opportunities remain limited, the wool and mohair industry is an economic lifeline as well as a way of life.

Mokoinihi Thinyane, chairperson of the Lesotho National Wool and Mohair Growers' Association, says the association has around 40,000 members nationwide.

"When you look at these 40,000 members, each farmer employs at least two herders on average," says Thinyane. "If you calculate that average across all members, you find there are around 80,000 herders employed. That is only an average. For example, I have five herders. Another member may have ten herders, and so on."

Thinyane estimates that when dependents and farming families are included, roughly 320,000 Basotho rely directly on wool and mohair for survival.

"This is our way of life. I used to work in the South African mines at Matlatsane but left in 1993 when my eldest son was in Standard 5." Thinyane says. "I have since then educated my children all the way to university using income from wool and mohair, as well as from selling live animals."

For herders such as Tšoeu, the work offers something increasingly rare in rural Lesotho: a stable income. "My employer pays me yearly, not monthly," he explains. "He gives me either 12 sheep or M12,000 per year."

Though the pay arrives only once a year, the arrangement provides more than cash. His employer regularly brings maize meal, vegetables, beans and tobacco to the isolated mountain post.

"When the beans or veg