Rural tourism is an increasingly recognized tourism sector in southern Africa, and with increasing tourist visitations to local communities it has a great potential to benefit local development and well-being. In order to maximize the benefits and minimize the costs, rural communities should be able to participate actively in all aspects of tourism, including planning and management. The main purpose of this study is to analyse the perceptions of local communities and their awareness, involvement in and benefits from tourism. This was approached on the basis of survey and interview materials from local rural communities and local authorities (nature reserve managers, tourism officers, environmental/conservation officers and Conservation Committee Forum members) in the Katse and Mohale Tourism Development Area of Lesotho. Thus the mixed method research design was selected, using qualitative and quantitative approaches to derive descriptive statistics. Non-probability, purposive and convenience sampling approaches were used to gather the data. The study was conducted in three villages adjacent to the T‟sehlanyane Nature Reserve - Ha „Mali, Bokong Nature Reserve -Ha Lejone and Liphofung Nature Reserve - Phelandaba. The information gathered was used to formulate a model of the elements influencing rural tourism benefit-sharing processes in rural local community contexts. Such model could be beneficial as without a strong emphasis on local benefit-sharing, Lesotho people, especially in the rural areas, would probably not receive the potential benefits of tourism development in the future. Such a model would support communities‟ awareness of and participation in tourism development, leading to wider benefit-sharing in rural tourism. Based on the results, the surveyed community members of Ha Lejone indicated having a relatively good awareness of the benefits of tourism. They also perceived that their environment attracted tourists and thus perceived that they could benefit more from tourism. By comparison, the respondents in Phelandaba perceived few benefits while the Ha „Mali respondents showed slightly more benefits. The results indicate that among the respondents from the villages, the Ha Lejone respondents were the most knowledgeable. Ha „Mali and Ha Lejone respondents recognized community members‟ participation but the Phelandaba respondents generally disagreed that the communities were involved in planning, as they indicated not being consulted in any planning about tourism. Phelandaba respondents agreed regarding the negative impacts of tourism, while those of Ha „Mali partially disagreed and Ha Lejone disagreed. Respondents from all three villages would prefer greater involvement and decision-making power in the management of tourism. The study concludes that there should be provision for basic training and continuing educational workshops on tourism for all stakeholders, which could promote tourism awareness and positive perceptions of and attitudes towards tourism. Government should not merely construct conservation and tourism development areas but should also empower local communities to participate in all stages of planning, development and management. Involving community members in as well as formulating supporting tourism regulations, implementation, monitoring and evaluation procedures would be beneficial for sustainable rural tourism development. Partnership amongst all tourism-related stakeholders in rural tourism management is an ideal tool for promoting rural tourism. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2014. / tm2015 / Tourism Management / PhD / Unrestricted

Thesis (M.M. (Security))--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, Graduate School of Public and Development Management, 2013. / Stock theft is a national crisis in, across and throughout Lesotho. This fact has led the Lesotho Mounted Police Service to place stock theft management under the serious crimes unit. In the mid-1990s stock theft reached epidemic proportions in the southern district adjoining the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa. This problem still persists and has lately turned very violent and deadly in the Qachas’nek District. However, the Quthing district has seen a relative decrease in the rate of stock theft in the mid-2000s. The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors and strategies used in both Quthing and Qachas’nek districts to curb cross border stock theft. These factors and strategies are then compared to establish why crossborder stock theft is decreasing in Quthing while it escalates in Qachas’nek. The main finding of the research is that the Quthing community adopted the strategy of community policing and were trained on crime prevention while the opposite is true in the Qachas’nek district. A community policing strategy has not been adopted in Qachas’nek. It has also been established that training in community policing and crime prevention has to be offered to police officers and the members of crime prevention committee members. Lastly, the study revealed that laws governing stock theft have to be amended and the crime prevention committees should be better empowered

A RESEARCH REPORT submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE in the SCHOOL OF SCIENCE EDUCATION of the UNIVERSITY OF THE WITWATERSRAND / This study was designed to investigate beliefs of Physics Teachers, in Lesotho, about Physics and Physics teaching and their awareness of students' alternative conceptions. The study used three questionnaires as its research tools. The first questionnaire investigated beliefs of teachers about Physics concepts, particularly electromagnetism, and the teaching of those concepts. An 'index of agreement' was calculated to determine the tendency of responses. The second queatlonnalre investigated teachers' awareness of students' alternative conceptions, while the third investigated Students' alternative conceptlons. Teachers' predictions are compared with the students' answers. The study shows some teachers having beliefs which can be grouped into two categories, namely constructlvlsts and empiricists. There is however no clear separation between the two categories. The study also shows that some teachers are not aware of students' alternative conceptlons, while some teachers had the same alternative conceptions as students, / Andrew Chakane 2019

ABSTRACT The number of people in immediate need of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in the southern African region continues to significantly exceed the capacity of health systems to provide it. Approaches to this complex rationing dilemma have evolved in different directions. The ethical concepts of fairness and equity have been suggested as a basis guiding rationing or patient selection processes for ART. The purpose of the study was to examine whether or not such concepts had relevance or operative value for a treatment team providing ART in rural Lesotho. Using an exploratory, single case study design the study found that while concepts of fairness and equity were relevant to the work of the treatment team, patient selection practices did not necessarily reflect what these concepts entail. The idea of fairness as a structured, formalized selection process did not figure in the approach to ART provision at St. Charles. A less formal, ‘first-come-first-served’ approach was adopted. While there was knowledge amongst some team members that social, economic or geographic conditions inhibit individuals and groups from gaining access to ART and that this was inequitable, it was felt that there was little they could do to try to mediate the impact of these conditions. The study findings pose importance questions about the approach to ART programming in resource constrained settings. The findings also question the relevance of trying to achieve fairness and equity when the gap between need for care and capacity to provide it remains so large.

Approaches to projects and development have undergone considerable change in the last decade with significant policy shifts on governance, gender, poverty eradication, and environmental issues. Most recently this has led to the adoption and promotion of the sustainable livelihood (SL) approach. The adoption of the SL approach presents challenges to development interventions including: the future of projects and programmes, and sector wide approaches (SWAPs) and direct budgetary support.This paper `A livelihoods-grounded audit of the `Training for Environmental and Agricultural Management (TEAM) project in Lesotho¿ is the eleventh in the series of project working papers. / Department for International Development

A quantitative approach was used to investigate the stigmatization of HIV positive clients in the Leribe District of Lesotho. The study population included 5200 HIV positive patients who enrolled for ARV in government clinics. A randomly selected sample of 520 clients responded through a questionnaire and interviews. The statistical package (STATA version 9) was used to analyze data. The objectives of the study were to explore the type and level of stigmatization of HIV-positive clients and to describe ways in which health workers in the PHC can reduce the stigmatization of HIV-positive clients at the clinics. The findings revealed that types of stigmatization included separation, isolation, labeling and discrimination. Ways to reduce the stigma within a community based primary health care facility included educating people living with HIV on how to protect themselves from multiple infection, providing effective counselling to clients and families maintaining confidentiality, and using change strategies to change attitudes of health care providers. The integration of HIV-related activities is a strong recommendation and the importance of the consistent availability of ARV treatment was emphasized. / Public Health / M.A. (Public Health)

The proposition that inadequate health literacy on antenatal care (ANC) is exacerbating maternal mortality in sub Saharan Africa (SSA) is undisputable. Yet, little is known about ANC literacy in Lesotho, an SSA country with high maternal mortality rates. This cross-sectional study explored the levels of ANC literacy and the associated factors in 451 purposively sampled women in two districts using a semi-structured questionnaire making recourse to statistical principles. Overall, 16.4% of the participants had grossly inadequate ANC literacy, while 79.8% had marginal levels. Geographic location and level of education were the most significant predictors of ANC literacy. Participants had the lowest scores on knowledge of danger signs in pregnancy and true signs of labour. Furthermore, significant knowledge gaps on baby layette and mother’s essential items for delivery were found. Adequate ANC literacy is critical to reducing maternal mortality in Lesotho. Improving access to ANC education, particularly in rural areas is recommended. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

A quantitative approach was used to investigate the stigmatization of HIV positive clients in the Leribe District of Lesotho. The study population included 5200 HIV positive patients who enrolled for ARV in government clinics. A randomly selected sample of 520 clients responded through a questionnaire and interviews. The statistical package (STATA version 9) was used to analyze data. The objectives of the study were to explore the type and level of stigmatization of HIV-positive clients and to describe ways in which health workers in the PHC can reduce the stigmatization of HIV-positive clients at the clinics. The findings revealed that types of stigmatization included separation, isolation, labeling and discrimination. Ways to reduce the stigma within a community based primary health care facility included educating people living with HIV on how to protect themselves from multiple infection, providing effective counselling to clients and families maintaining confidentiality, and using change strategies to change attitudes of health care providers. The integration of HIV-related activities is a strong recommendation and the importance of the consistent availability of ARV treatment was emphasized. / Public Health / M.A. (Public Health)

Health Studies / D.Litt. et Phil. (Nursing Sciences)

Lesotho is faced with massive problems relating to the environment and landuse planning. The main concern is land degradation and soil erosion. The problems which have been identified are legislative and socio-economic. The social and economic make-up of the country makes it a difficult task to redress the identified problems. Lesotho has ample laws which addresses the environment and proper land-use planning but there is evident lack of implementation and law enforcement. A decisive government policy which recognise the importance of according environmental issues the highest priority is needed. This will facilitate proper implementation. / Private Law / LL.M.