Lesotho Atlas of Sustainable Development

The Lesotho Atlas of Sustainable Development is an attempt to map the state of sustainable human development in the country. The quality of life and the level of human well-being, in terms of a range of indicators, have been cartographically portrayed across districts, geographical zones, rural and urban areas and across gender base. Each map is accompanied by an anaiytical text in sufficient detail. Maps are simple and meaningful. The choice of indicators has been governed by the need to evaluate the sustainable development process in terms of its overall impact on the quality of life and the standard of living of people. ln recent years, the notion of wellbeing has shifted away from just material attainments, or the means for development, to outcomes that are either desirable in themselves or desirable because of their role in suppofting better oppoftunities for people. Poverty is viewed not only in terms of lack of adequate income, but as a state of deprivation spanning the social, economic and political context of the people that prevents their effective participation as equals in the development process. This has resulted in an inclusion of development indicators in the area of education and health attainments - essential for capacity building - and other social environmental consequences that have a direct bearing on the state of well-being. Today, there is a broad-based consensus to view sustainable human development in terms of, at least, three critical dimensions of well-being. These are related to longevity, education, and command over resources. Effofts have been made to poftray through maps these dimensions in terms of the specific indicators which are used to reflect the specific socio-cultural conditions that prevail at the levels of districts, geographical zones, rural and urban areas and at gender level at a specific period of time. The Atlas identifies contextually relevant indicators that not only reflect the prevailing social values, but also the most common development priorities of the districts and geographical zones on each of these dimensions. Various indicators that capture the process of accumulation in the economic, educational, health, other aspects of well-being, and governance have been depicted through the medium of maps. From these indicators, a core of composite indices, namely the Human Development lndex (HDl) and povefty deprivation indices have been portrayed at the levels of geographical zones of the country. These indices have been shown separately for rural-urban and at gender levels.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP) has made a significant contribution to the Lesotho economy, ln '1998 the Project represented 13.6 per cent of the value of GDP, 35 per cent of construction and, most importantly for the poor, 27.8 per cent of Government revenue coming VI through royalties and SACU revenues. Rovalties from the sale of water will provide Government with a steady source of rncome in the years ahead. Lesotho's gender related development index (GDl) of '1 1 1 is 9 places higher than its HDI rank of 120. Lesotho's gender empowerment measure (GEM) of 50 is advantageous in relation to other developing countries. Males are less educated than the females. ln the age groups over 5 years of age who have never attended school, two-thirds are males, and only one-third are females. The greatest disparity is found in mountain areas where some 30 per cent more girls than boys attend school. The economically less developed regions of the foothills, Senqu River Valley, and the mountains are with low Human Development lndex (HDl). On the contrary, the economically better region of the lowlands has relatively better pedormance on HDl. Allocation of adequate public resources for furlhering human development alone is not enough. lt is equally imporlant to use them efficiently and effectively. Human attainments appear to be better and more sustained in the lowlands, with Maseru as nucleus, where there is social mobilization for human development, and where female literacy and empowerment encourages women to have a say in the decision making process at the household level. Povefiy is greater in rural than in urban Lesotho, About 54 per cent of rural households are poor, compared with a Maseru average of 28 per cent. Povefiy is disproportionately high in the nearly 40 per cent of Basotho households that rely on farming, herding, informal business, or casual labor for most of their income. By contrast, the incidence of poverty is below half the national average in households relying mainly on mining remittances from South Africa. Although only about 26 per cent of Lesotho's population lives in the mountains and the Senqu River Valley, at ultra (lower) poverly line they account for 39 per cent of national poverty incidence, and 43 per cent of both poverty depth and severity. At the upper povefiy line, their contribution to national povefty incidence, depth and severity is about 35, 38, and 48 per cent respectively. The poorest 20 per cent of the population spends nearly two-thirds of its resources just on food and a further nearly one-foufth on minimal other basic needs. Among those with farming as their main source of income, 74 per cent are poor and 43 per cent are ultra poor. The World Bank Poverty Assessment estimated the extent of urban poverly at 27 per cent of the national urban population, and 28 per cent of Maseru population. Average urban household income is 75 per cent higher than the average national income. Given the conceptualisation of Human Povedy lndex (HPl) in terms of the broader aspects of deprivation, covering accessibility to basic minimum services, large differences in rural and urban areas imply that the availability of basic amenities that are virtually taken for granted in urban areas are, in fact, quite scarce in rural areas. vii ln addition to the indicators of sustainable development that have been identified and included in building the core set of composite indices, for a country like Lesotho, there are always issues and concerns that have a direct bearing on the well-being of people at local level and, therefore, need to be included in any meaningful framework for evaluating development. The compilation of indicators in the Atlas covers rr"h aspects of social environment that influence individual and collective well-being. This includes indicators on the adolescents' health, child labor, violence agiinst women etc. Besides, physical environment also has a bearing on the quality of life. Accordingly, selective environmental indicators have also been included. The indicators of the social and physical environment of the people have implications f or the process of development, f or planning and policy formulation, and for building broad based evaluative standardslor assessing the process of change. More significantly, they have a direct bearing on the issue of governance for human development and have to be, therefJre, kept in view while setting the agenda for improving governance in the country. Quality of governance is an essential tooi in transforming country's resources into useful outcomes for sustainable human develofiment. Lfticient and effective governance is critical for improving the pace of sustainable development in the country. The Atlas firesents a framework for conceptualising the issue of governance with the objective of taking the issue beyond the stage of prognosis. lt also focuses on area of emph-asis along with relevant instruments that need to be pursued for improving governance in the country. The Atlas presents specific development radars which give a snapshot view of sustainable development in respect of various indicitors. A closer view has been taken, in terms of indicators and some issues, on different aspects of well-being. The Atlas consists of several maps numbering 2.13 which poftray indicators on economic attainments and well-being; indicators on educational attainments; health attainments and demographic concerns and on governance for human development. lndicators on social and physical environment that have a bearing on well-being and quality of life are also represented through the maps in the Atlas. Some tables showing distinct indicators at the levels of districts and geographical zones are presented at the end. Relevant references are also given at the end. The maps and map design produced in this Atlas are for academic use and purpose only. They are for the convenience of readers. The boundaries, denominations, and any other information shown on each map do not imply any judgement on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. The author would like to express his sincere thanks to Dr. e. Chakela, Deparlment of Geography, National University of Lesotho for his contributory and noteworthy suggestions; and to the other members of the Geography Department for their helpful suggestions and cooperation, The auihor is viii particularly grateful to Ms. M.F. Sekoane a

nd Mr. B.L. Prajapati for their invaluable cartographic assistance: and to Mr. A. Angel for typing the manuscript. The author is also grateful to all the authorities and government bodies. the Bureau of Statistics (BOS), Maseru, the Department of Lands, Surveys and Physical Planning (LSPP), Maseru, Ministry of Environment and Gender lssues, Sechaba Consultants, UNDP, Maseru, World Bank, UNAIDS, and many others for the aid and information they have provided. Without the kind help and cooperation of these persons and depafiments Lesotho Atlas of Sustainable Development could not have appeared.