Bethel Business and Community     Development Centre 

Lesotho suffers from some of the worst land degradation and erosion in the world.  Reversing desertification is one of the primary activities at BBCDC.  Since 1993 a steady program of landscaping, planting, water resources development and soil building is pursued.  Water is collected from roofs, through an intricate series of contour bunds, a hand dug well on the campus, a spring catchment, and a ground water dam.  This year BBCDC made major improvements to water collection infrastructure just downstream from its ground water dam to make it flood proof and more efficient.  Waste water is released strategically throughout the campus for greening.  Land use on the campus consists of nearly equal proportions of forest, field crops, market gardens and mixed orchards.  This combination copes well with erratic weather conditions that oscillate between drought and summer monsoon.  Water is reticulated throughout the campus for irrigation. In 2012 BBCDC completed a integrated system which includes a biogas digester, stepped waste water treatment system (living machine) and greenhouse.  In Aug. 2012 ground was broken for construction of a 242m2 learning centre on the BBCDC campus which includes four distinct workshops and studios:

1. Food science and culinary arts.

2. Information technology and media studies

3. Solar energy utilization and building science.

4. Environmental science and agro-ecology. 

Students and staff built it themselves and as of Sept. 22, 2014 the facility is completed and fully operational.  The learning centre also includes a central concourse which functions as a social space for students.