Tosing Community Council COE

The Tosing Community is located in the Quthing District of Lesotho, encompassing several rural and mountainous villages including Tosing itself, Ha ’Mali, Ha Mabele a Tlala, Leqhe, Ha Thaha, and Sekering.  Predominantly agrarian, the community grapples with high levels of poverty and limited local services, relying mostly on subsistence farming, vegetable production, and labour migration — particularly to South African farms. Its terrain is rugged, and socio-economic vulnerabilities are compounded by environmental hazards such as hailstorms that can devastate crops. Despite these challenges, the community plays an active role in environmental stewardship, participating in watershed management and forestry regeneration initiatives. 

The Tosing Community Council is part of the Gender Links Centres of Excellence (COE) for Local Government, which seeks to embed gender-responsive governance and inclusive development. Within this framework, Tosing has made concrete strides: the council has a near-balanced composition of 12 male and 13 female councillors, and its deputy mayor is a woman.