Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- 1 Introduction: Transforming Settlement in Southern Africa
- 2 Angolan Refugee Displacement and Settlement in Zaire and Zambia
- 3 Southern Mozambique: Migrant Labour and Post-Independence Challenges
- 4 Structuring the Demise of a Refugee Identity: The UNHCR’s Voluntary Repatriation Programme for Mozambican Refugees in South Africa
- 5 Making Resettlement a Community Development Project: A Case Study of Katse Dam Resettlement in Lesotho
- 6 Micro and Macro Factors in Rural Settlement: A Case Study of Chiweta in Northern Malawi
- 7 The Economic Role of Gardens in Peri-Urban and Urban Settlements of Lesotho
- 8 On Migration and the Country of the Mind: Conceptualising Urban-Rural Space in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- 9 Politics, Community Displacement and Planning: Cato Manor - Past, Present, Future
- 10 ‘Duncan’s Inferno’: Fire Disaster, Social Dislocation and Settlement Patterns in a South African Township
- 11 The Impact of National Policy on Rural Settlement Patterns in Zimbabwe
- 12 The Impact of National Policy on Urban Settlement in Zimbabwe
- 13 The Influence of Government Policies on the Development of Rural Settlements in Botswana
- 14 Developing Settlement Policy Alternatives: The Role of Rural Service Centres in Africa
- 15 Urbanisation Strategy in the New South Africa: The Role of Secondary Cities and Small Towns
- 16 Some Issues in Developing Settlement Policy Alternatives in South Africa
- 17 Eight Main Risks: Preventing Impoverishment during Population Resettlement
- 18 Reconsidering Settlement Strategies for Southern Africa
- 19 Migration, Settlement and the Population Debate in South Africa
- 20 Equitable and Sustainable Urban Futures in Post-Apartheid Southern Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
7 - The Economic Role of Gardens in Peri-Urban and Urban Settlements of Lesotho
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 September 2020
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of Tables
- List of Figures
- Preface
- List of Contributors
- 1 Introduction: Transforming Settlement in Southern Africa
- 2 Angolan Refugee Displacement and Settlement in Zaire and Zambia
- 3 Southern Mozambique: Migrant Labour and Post-Independence Challenges
- 4 Structuring the Demise of a Refugee Identity: The UNHCR’s Voluntary Repatriation Programme for Mozambican Refugees in South Africa
- 5 Making Resettlement a Community Development Project: A Case Study of Katse Dam Resettlement in Lesotho
- 6 Micro and Macro Factors in Rural Settlement: A Case Study of Chiweta in Northern Malawi
- 7 The Economic Role of Gardens in Peri-Urban and Urban Settlements of Lesotho
- 8 On Migration and the Country of the Mind: Conceptualising Urban-Rural Space in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa
- 9 Politics, Community Displacement and Planning: Cato Manor - Past, Present, Future
- 10 ‘Duncan’s Inferno’: Fire Disaster, Social Dislocation and Settlement Patterns in a South African Township
- 11 The Impact of National Policy on Rural Settlement Patterns in Zimbabwe
- 12 The Impact of National Policy on Urban Settlement in Zimbabwe
- 13 The Influence of Government Policies on the Development of Rural Settlements in Botswana
- 14 Developing Settlement Policy Alternatives: The Role of Rural Service Centres in Africa
- 15 Urbanisation Strategy in the New South Africa: The Role of Secondary Cities and Small Towns
- 16 Some Issues in Developing Settlement Policy Alternatives in South Africa
- 17 Eight Main Risks: Preventing Impoverishment during Population Resettlement
- 18 Reconsidering Settlement Strategies for Southern Africa
- 19 Migration, Settlement and the Population Debate in South Africa
- 20 Equitable and Sustainable Urban Futures in Post-Apartheid Southern Africa
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
In the past ten years many African countries have experienced a rapid growth in rural and urban populations although Africa remains the world's least urbanised continent, with only 35 per cent living in urban areas as compared with a global average of 45 per cent. During the last thirty years, the urban population in Africa increased at an annual rate of 4.8 per cent due to rural-urban migration and lower mortality rates, and correspondingly during the ten-year period from 1976, this growth rate in Lesotho has averaged 4.9 per cent (Government of Lesotho 1992; United Nations Economic Commission for Africa 1996). Rising populations in rural areas have resulted in land shortages, forcing people to move into the urban areas. Some assume that life in the peri-urban and urban areas has advantages, but once they move into these areas, they find that their expectations are not met and that life is really very difficult.
The lack of employment opportunities in the public and private sectors lead people to work in the informal sector and urban agriculture. Gardens are not a recent phenomenon in Lesotho and can be traced back to the nineteenth century. However, there has been an increasing number of gardens in Maseru, the capital city, and in other peri-urban and urban areas.
SETTLEMENT PATTERNS IN LESOTHO
From the days of Moshoeshoe I to the present, the settlement pattern of Lesotho has changed from a traditional structure, characterised by concentrated village settlements, to a more complex pattern in recent years. Cultivation and grazing areas were usually located at a distance from the village. Expansion has proceeded in stages. In the first stage, the mountain lands were used mainly for grazing livestock with a few isolated herdsmen's huts. The rest of the population was scattered in lowland villages. In the second stage, the huts gave way to small settlements, which eventually became villages. The best grazing land in the villages was put under the plough. Instead of land supporting a small group of people, it was forced to supporta growing number of agriculturists, leading to soil erosion and reduced soil fertility. Often close to the huts, a garden was cultivated with a limited variety of vegetables for consumption.
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- Information
- Transforming Settlement in Southern Africa , pp. 100 - 104Publisher: Edinburgh University PressPrint publication year: 2020