Environmental change and human security in Lesotho: The role of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in environmental degradation

Abstract

This paper examines the impact of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project on environmental change and on environmental and human security in Lesotho. The central argument is that the construction of the project has contributed to environmental degradation, and particularly the depletion of renewable resources in terms of both quantity and quality. The environmental scarcity brought about by the project's construction is, first, human-induced and second, supply-induced in that it is caused by resource degradation and depletion. This has had an adverse impact on environmental and human security in the country. Part of the problem is that environmental issues associated with the project have not been politicised by the elite and have accordingly not yet become a concern at a high political level. However, the project itself is indeed the subject of politics at a high level, because of its hydro-political implications. In the conclusion potential solutions to the challenges of environmental problems associated with the project and the country as a whole are put forward.