Summary

HOT is partnering with UNICEF and the African Drone and Data Academy to build a pipeline of drone-enabled youth entrepreneurs and informed public officials in Lesotho. Through human-centered design workshops, hands-on flight training, and digital credentialing on the Yoma platform, the program will equip 32 young people with the technical and entrepreneurial skills needed to turn drone and geospatial data capabilities into real livelihoods, contributing to a green youth force in Lesotho.

Context

Young people in Southern Africa are facing two big problems at the same time. First, good jobs are hard to find in South Africa; more than 6 in 10 young people aged 15 to 24 are unemployed (StatsSA, 2025), and in Lesotho, about 1 in 4 cannot find work (World Bank, 2025). Second, their communities are dealing with real climate and environmental challenges from floods and soil erosion to waste management and land degradation that need practical, tech-driven solutions.

Drone and geospatial data skills sit right at the intersection of both problems. Africa's drone industry is growing fast, projected to reach USD 9.3 billion by 2033, but there are fewer than 5,000 certified drone pilots across the entire continent (Market Data Forecast, 2024). Governments, NGO agencies, and businesses all want these services and cannot find enough trained people to deliver them.

At the same time, there is a growing opportunity to build drone literacy among public officials in Lesotho, equipping them to understand, commission, and govern drone services that could meaningfully improve delivery across agriculture, environment, health, and infrastructure (VillageReach, 2025; Drone Industry Insights, 2024). Because for drone and data skills to create lasting change, young people need more than training; they need institutions that are ready to work with them.

Our Approach

The project starts with design thinking workshops where participants identify real problems in their own communities and explore how drone technology can help solve them, whether that means mapping flood risks, monitoring farmland, or inspecting aging infrastructure.

Once participants have a clear sense of the problems they want to tackle, they move into five days of hands-on drone training. Working with certified instructors, they learn to fly safely, plan data collection missions, and process aerial imagery into useful maps and analysis using tools like QGIS and OpenDroneMap. The training extends to, who join a parallel two-day program designed specifically for their context, building the knowledge they need to understand, champion, and commission drone services within their own institutions.

Throughout the program, all learning is tracked on the Yoma platform, where participants build a verified digital portfolio and earn certificates that carry real weight with employers and training institutions.

Outcome

The program will generate measurable results across three areas. It will increase the number of youth with certified drone and data skills. It will produce a set of validated, market-grounded livelihood concto those ready for further development or investment. And it will strengthen the capacity of government institutions to commission and support youth-led geospatial services. Progress will be tracked through training completion rates, digital credentials issued, livelihood concepts developed, and a three-to-six-month follow-up survey measuring how participants are applying their skills.

Deliverables

• A human-centred design concept note articulating the design thinking framework, stakeholder insights, prototype livelihood models, and a theory of change connecting training to community impact
• Completion of foundational drone operations and data processing training for 32 youth across Lesotho, with Yoma learning pathways and digital credentials issued to all completers.
• Completion of a two-day drone governance and applications training for 8 public officials in South Africa, with action plans for institutional drone adoption.
• A final program report documenting outcomes, lessons learned, and recommendations for replication and scale across the BNLSE region (due 31 May 2026).