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Understanding livelihood change and evolving vulnerability in Lesotho – and appropriate programming responses. Palesa Ndabe Stephen Turner. Livelihoods in Lesotho: diverse and dynamic. To help reduce vulnerability and alleviate poverty, we must: understand the diversity track the dynamics
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Understanding livelihood change and evolving vulnerability in Lesotho –and appropriate programming responses Palesa Ndabe Stephen Turner
Livelihoods in Lesotho: diverse and dynamic • To help reduce vulnerability and alleviate poverty, we must: • understand the diversity • track the dynamics • LRAP’s research component tried to do both
LRAP research activities • Literature review • Research strategy • Eight other research studies • Emphasis on longitudinal work, including access to past data
LRAP research activities • Literature review • Research strategy • Eight other research studies • Emphasis on longitudinal work, including access to past data • Analysis of the underlying causes of poverty
Poverty and vulnerability in Lesotho • Poverty is spreading and deepening • Vulnerability is spreading and changing
Underlying causes of poverty • Geopolitical history and status • Gender inequity • Governance and politics
Intermediate causes of poverty • Unemployment • Environmental problems • HIV/AIDS
Evolving vulnerability: employment • Rural Lesotho is not an agrarian economy or society • South African mine labour more than halved in 15 years • Lesotho factory work: new opportunities, new vulnerabilities • Livelihoods and their vulnerabilities increasingly span urban and rural Lesotho
Evolving vulnerability: environment • Unreliable climate a constant • Land degradation continues – we think • Water a key constraint • Increasing dependence on the biosphere for energy
Evolving vulnerability: HIV/AIDS • The nation’s worst crisis • Deeper vulnerability for women and girls • New vulnerability for children and older people • New vulnerability for livelihoods • New vulnerability for the state
Evolving vulnerability: institutions • Deteriorating governance hurts the poor most • A new start: a fragile time • Many indigenous institutions are resilient • Formal institutions threatened by HIV/AIDS
Evolving vulnerability: sharing and support • Some sharing mechanisms resilient; others fading away • A decline in community spirit? • The massive new burden of HIV/AIDS • Can support groups help?
Programming responses • Link livelihoods and HIV/AIDS initiatives • Link rural and urban initiatives • Help society to tackle gender inequity • Promote effective interventions in governance and social support
Programming responses • Support ways for the vulnerable to produce food • Help people overcome water constraints • Help extension services adjust to new vulnerabilities • Adjust, extend, reinforce development roles
Khotso Pula Nala