Environmental Change in Lesotho
An Analysis of the Causes and Consequences of Land-Use Change in the Lowland Region
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Beschreibung
The aim of this book is to identify and analyze the drivers of land-use change and the consequences of these changes on the livelihoods of rural land-users/managers. To accomplish this, a combination of tools from the social sciences and environmental fields were developed to identify causes and consequences of land-use change at selected levels, using a ‘nested’ approach. These methods were then applied to a case study of villages in Maseru and Mohale’s Hoek districts in the Lowland region of Lesotho.Based on the research findings, key proximate drivers of land-use change in the Lowland villages were established. These were drought, lack of water, land mismanagement, HIV/AIDS and ‘dependency syndrome’. These were acted on by underlying and other drivers to bring about major changes in land-use. The book offers an understanding of the actions of local land-users and managers, and their responses to biophysical, social-political, environmental, HIV/AIDS and other stresses, giving an insight into a household’s decision-making behaviour, degree of vulnerability and hence their resilience and adaptive capabilities and mechanisms. This book is directed at the wide scientific and non-scientific audience including environmental and social science experts, researchers, decision-makers, and development/aid workers interested in understanding the intricate human-environment relationship as it relates to land-use change in a changing biophysical, socio-economic, political and institutional context, coupled by HIV/AIDS, changing demographics, local perceptions and what is termed here ‘dependency syndrome’.
Environmental Change in Lesotho identifies and analyzes the drivers of land-use change and the consequences of these changes on the livelihoods of rural land-users/managers. To accomplish this, a combination of tools from the social sciences and environmental fields were developed to identify causes and consequences of land-use change at selected levels, using a ‘nested’ approach. These methods were then applied to a case study of two villages in the Lowland region of Lesotho. This book is directed at environmental and social science experts, researchers, decision-makers, and development/aid workers interested in understanding the intricate human-environment relationship as it relates to land-use change in a changing biophysical, socio-economic, political and institutional context, coupled by HIV/AIDS, changing demographics, local perceptions and what is termed here ‘dependency syndrome’.
This Lesotho case study discusses HIV/AIDS and ‘dependency syndrome’ in the context of human geography Contributes policy-relevant knowledge for decision-making on sustainable land use Challenges some commonly-held myths about land-use change
Autor*in
Pendo Maro
Themen in »Environmental Change in Lesotho«
Dependency syndrome Land-use change Lowland region, Lesotho Perception analysis Sustainable land management