The research investigates the impact of internal rural - urban migration III Lesotho on household income and employment. Using data gathered from the 2002/03 household survey, the 2006 nationwide census and a questionnaire on rural - urban migration in Lesotho administered to 500 respondents in Maseru and Leribe, we estimate a logit model of the probability of employment in Lesotho in 2008 given a set of independent variables. The independent variables are respondent's work experience; years of education completed; employment status in 2004; employment status in 2008; gender; job skill level; place of residence in 2004 and a categorical variable that measures whether or not the respondent is a rural - urban migrant. The results suggest that migration and work experience have no significant impact on an individual's likelihood of being employed in the country's formal sector. Also, it was found that the higher the level of education an individual has, the less likely are their chances of employment in the country's formal sector because of the lack of formal jobs in the urban areas. Over 50% of Lesotho's workforce employed in the urban areas was discovered to work in the informal sector. The study concludes that there is a lack of jobs in Lesotho's urban formal sector that results in a thriving informal sector. The advantages of informal sector jobs to the rural - urban migrant include an increase in their standard of living as well as that of their family members left behind in the rural areas but the disadvantages include low levels of investor confidence that lead to a decrease in overall economic development and growth in the country.

The processes of globalisation and trade liberalisation promote formal international trade world-wide. The processes have been accompanied by the renewed vigour to improve international competitiveness of the formal enterprises. Amidst these changes, there is a growing interest in the extent of informal sector activity as a form of income generating or subsistence activity within the developed and developing countries. However, little agreement exists in the literature as to what constitutes the informal economy, what activities in addition to monetary exchange make up the informal economy and where these activities are located. The lack of consensus on the proper definition is reflected in the lack of systematic information about all the caveats of this sector. As a result, the informal crossborder trade has failed to attract attention of the academic researchers. Little is known about whether the benefits of globalisation and trade liberalisation trickle down to the lower end of the informal sector. This study explores and describes the problems faced by the Lesotho informal cross-border traders operating between Lesotho and Durban. It provides a profile of their experiences and problems along different stages of their journey. That is between their homes and the border gates, at the border gates on the their way to Durban, on their journey to Durban, in Durban, and the border gates on their return journey to Lesotho. This study examines the relationships between these traders and the traders in Durban. It tracts what happens to their goods once they are imported into Lesotho. The study concludes that trade and non-trade barriers pose a number of serious problems for the informal traders, and therefore hinder the development of international trade in the informal sector. / Thesis (M.Dev. Studies)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.