Environmental Change In Lesotho An Analysis Of The Causes And Consequences Of Landuse Change In The Lowland Region 1st Edition Pendo Maro Auth by Pendo Maro (auth.) 9789400718807, 9400718802 instant download after payment.

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’.