The Role of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in Poverty Alleviation in Lesotho

Abstract

This article focuses on the impact of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP)
in alleviating poverty in Lesotho, with specifi c reference to the Rural Development
Programme (RDP) in the Phase 1B of the project. It examines whether or not the
RDP brings about development in the long run, how it benefi ts the highlands
communities, and the problems that the Lesotho Highlands Development Authority
(LHDA) and other development players face in advancing rural development and
alleviating poverty. It concludes that the LHWP has had both positive and negative implications for the affected communities and Lesotho at large, because in a personal sense, different households have been affected differently.

Africa Insight Vol. 37 (4) 2008 pp. 117-136