SUMMARY
This study examined ongoing economic empowerment programs that are being implemented by both government and NGOs in rural areas of Lesotho. The key objectives were to gain some insight into major government and NGO poverty reduction programs that target or at least include the rural poor, and to establish the challenges encountered by the benefactors in executing their poverty reduction efforts. A qualitative approach involving interviews was utilized to collect data from a sample of six government ministries and six NGOs. The study revealed that various economic empowerment programs were being implemented throughout the country. The main challenges faced by the government and NGOs in their quest to assist the rural poor were constrained resources, inadequate cooperation and/or interference from political leadership, and the insufficient enthusiasm of target groups.