No abstract available. / Thesis (M.T.R.P.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

Land information is a an important resource in planning, and in undertaking land administration functions such as allocation of interests to land, land adjudication, land valuation, physical planning, etc. Rapid urbanization, however, puts great pressure on personnel delegated to undertake these functions. The personnel can no longer cope with capturing, processing and disseminating land information for the increasing urban population. Observing the failures of land information management to cope with rapid urbanization, the researcher undertook an exploration into the capabilities of LIS to manage land informatioo for The Millennium Park Land Development Project (MPLDP) in Maseru, the Lesotho capital. The project is based on land readjustment principles and is of mulli-stakeholdership. Such big and networked projects have been shown to be associated with land information management problems. Undertaking this research was motivated by many success stories however, world wide, in which LIS was introduced as a tool to assist in land information management. The main themes in this project are firstly, the study of Land re-adjustment as a land management technique to meet land demand for urbanization and secondly land information system as a tool to manage land information for a land re-adjustment project. Study of LR will help understand what land information is required for such a land management project. Study of land information system will help exploring its capabilities that can be applied to manage land in formation for LR projects. Furthermore, as a case study to this, the MPLDP system is analysed. examining the activities and ways in which land information is managed. This analysis is aimed at identifying the constraints that result in the observed back logs in the project activities; and recommending improvements. Many problems and constraints are identified in the MPLDP. As a land surveyor, only improvements related to technical constraints are considered in this research, with cognizance of the legal and institutional issues that need to be addressed in implementation of these improvements. The main improvement discussed is the creation of automated databases and illustrations are given on how these databases could be used to manage land information effectively for the MPLDP. / Thesis (M.Sc.Sur.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2001.

Lesotho has a land area of about 30.340 square kilometers and is completely surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Much of the country is mountainous. Its agricultural sector is characterized by low productivity due to erratic climatic conditions, limited arable land and fragile soils with a low water holding capacity. These conditions have proved very detrimental to crop production, rendering agriculture a risky economic activity. Numerous efforts have been made over the years to address the technical constraints confronting the sector, but nothing seems to be changing. The implication is that the technical/climatic factors mentioned above may be only part of the problem. The current situation whereby Lesotho imports nearly 95% of its domestic food requirements is unsustainable, but this desperate picture looks set to worsen with the continuing threats of contracting farm sizes and further declines in farmer participation rates. But this sector has continued to be an important source of household survival and existence. A study was designed and conducted during 2008 and 2009 to identify the institutional constraints to horticulture production in Lesotho, looking specifically at the obstacles to effective production and marketing of horticultural products. A total of 100 farming households were enumerated in four districts of the country, namely Butha Buthe, Berea, Mafeteng, and Thaba-Tseka. A range of institutional and non-price factors in the farming and marketing environment were incorporated in a binary choice model to investigate the degree of satisfaction of the farming households with their previous year’s farming results. To avoid selection bias in the sample, a probit model was chosen, and the Stata-10 software was used to estimate probit coefficients. The results provide indications that property rights, the agricultural extension service, the condition of the physical infrastructure, and distance to markets may be crucial elements threatening the existence of this sector in Lesotho. The difficulties in accessing markets and land remain important institutional constraints to horticulture production and marketing in Lesotho. Recommendations made on these issues include providing more policy support to homestead gardening and for these issues to be incorporated into the Vision 2020 process. Also to be included is the issue of addressing the growing national food insecurity and enhancing Basotho livelihoods in general.

This study focused on community participation in relation to policy formulation in Lesotho. It paid particular attention to whether the Lesotho community participated in the formulation of the Lesotho Land Bill 2009. Literature related to the concept of participatory development, community participation and policy formulation was reviewed. From the literature, it was clear that the attainment of effective community participation in policy formulation is not something that can take place overnight and this makes community participation a crucial aspect of any development project. The study used the qualitative approach to provide more information and detailed examination of community participation in the formulation of the Lesotho Land Bill 2009. This approach adopted the case study design. The data was collected using focus groups, interview schedule and document analysis. The study found that the government did not consult widely on the Bill before it was enacted into an Act of parliament. Therefore, it recommends that the government of Lesotho should involve all relevant stakeholders to participate in policy formulation. This will help to establish a link between the government and civil society stakeholders at local levels, for participatory policy-making to be effective.

From Introduction: Lesotho is a small, mountainous country entirely surrounded by South Africa. The stark nature of its terrain and topography present harsh options to its inhabitants. Much of the country is mountainous, better suited to the keeping of stock than to agriculture. The lowlands, where the soils are more amenable to the plough, are scarred and cut by dongas. The soil is overworked and overcrowded and Lesotho does not grow enough to feed its people who depend on migrancy as a viable alternative to the limited resources of their own land. They stream from the country to seek wage employment in South Africa, for Lesotho has minimal industrial development and cannot provide jobs for her people. The civil service absorbs some of the educated elite, as does teaching, but the majority must sell their sweat in South Africa's service.