Discussing Causes and Consequences of Land-Use Change in the Lowland Region

Type Book Section - Environmental Change in Lesotho
Title Discussing Causes and Consequences of Land-Use Change in the Lowland Region
Author(s)
Publication (Day/Month/Year) 2011
Page numbers 149-177
Publisher Springer
URL http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-007-1881-4_6
Abstract
Land-use change is expected to affect, among other things, agricultural production and livelihood options. An understanding of the causes and consequences of land-use change is important to inform policy and measures aimed at promoting sustainable land-use and successful adaptation strategies for the agricultural sector, particularly in the face of prevailing internal and external pressures on rural populations. Several commonly held views about causes and consequences of land-use change persist in Lesotho. Based on the study findings expounded in Chaps. 4 and 5, and the theories proposed in Chap. 2, this chapter questions the commonly-held view about labour migration and land-use change in the Lowland region. Similarly, it scrutinizes the possible links between farmers’ perceptions of land quality and their decisions on land-use. The possible impacts of policy and institutional factors on land-use decisions are also assessed. The chapter gives an in-depth critique of these assumptions. It concludes by shedding light on the interactions between the different elements and the inter-linkages with land-use change and its consequences. The chapter ends with a revised conceptual framework for land-use change in the Lowland region.

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