CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
to be composted for later soil treatment, show good preliminary results. In addition, some designs include lining the pit with concrete panels to minimise leaching into ground which might be part of the water table used by nearby wells.
There was once a day set aside once for planting saplings of trees to increase their supply in a country which has very tree cover.
Most cooking in urban areas is not done using carbon-based local coal, charcoal or wood. As elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa, there has been some development of stoves which burn more efficiently. Many households that have an electricity connection in smaller towns do not use it for cooking, instead relying on Liquified Petroleum Gas (LPG), paraffin or wood. There is some education on how to harvest firewood while not damaging the trees and to prevent practices such as grubbing up roots to burn to mitigate land erosion, which is a serious issue in some districts.
It is clear that, with respect to the right to adequate housing, Lesotho is making progress, particularly in the improvements in land registration, the spread of improved water and sanitation, and the generally good physical quality of housing. But still has a way to go.
Heat and cold, often both on the same day over the dry season, pose particular issues of insulation and energy use. Single-leaf walls of cement blocks are likely to be particularly poor insulation. Cement blocks have a very low thermal capacity so they do not retain heat for long into a cold night. Stone is seen as a viable local material with good insulation qualities. Heating then poses a problem with respect to energy use, especially when carbon-based. The installation of insulation is likely to be too expensive for most households and, thus, fuel will continue to be the main defence against cold nights. Wastes into urban streams have not been much of a problem except from commercial and industrial units. The infamous ‘blue river’ problem arising from denim manufacture has been cleaned through end of pipe technology in the factories. Increasing plot use may affect vegetable growing less than the perception among policy-makers as the proportion of plot used for vegetable cultivation is usually quite small and the remainder of the plot is left fallow.
BRIEF CONCLUSION
Despite the presence of many women in positions of influence and power, the rights of women to inherit and own property are still not secure or plainly evident. The HIV/AIDS pandemic is affecting Basotho very severely with a high death rate, low life expectancy and many implications for housing; especially the remaining years’ life people might have in which to gather resources for house-building or pay off a mortgage loan. The loss of a major earner can also plunge households into poverty. Under-counting disabled people is unacceptable and measures should be taken to do better. Because there is a link between numbers present and the application of beneficial policies, denial of the presence of many disabled people reduces the likelihood of measures to help them obtain housing. The improvements in sanitation and water supply are likely to have beneficial effects ion the environmental sustainability of urban Lesotho. The insistence on large plots, however, coupled with the layer-by-layer development of housing is likely to increase the urban footprint more than is necessary as urban populations grow. Reducing the sprawl, along with reductions in reliance on scarce wood for cooking, could have major effects on the sustainability of Lesotho through reducing the loss of fertile land through development and from erosion.
Since the beginning of global warming, storms are more prevalent and more violent. This is likely adversely to affect housing built in earth if they are not well roofed and on water resistant foundations and skirtings. It also increases the erosion likely to result from removal of trees for construction and contributes to reducing usable life of roads, many of which lack adequate drainage to keep the water of their surfaces.
CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES
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