Journals Information
Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 3(10), pp. 526 - 538
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.031004
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The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Dams, Development, and the World Bank
Robert K. Hitchcock *
Department of Anthropology, University of New Mexico, USA
ABSTRACT
Between 1989 and 2007 the World Bank was one of the funders of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project in southern Africa. This project, which included two large dams (Katse and Mohale), had significant impacts on local people, including loss of grazing, arable land, and resettlement of 71 households in Phase 1A and 325 households in Phase 1B, with a total of 573 people being affected directly, and another 20,000 people affected indirectly (e.g. through loss of natural resources, disruption of travel routes). Conflicts between LHDA and the World Bank revolved around compensation, resettlement, development, in-stream flow requirements, downstream impacts, the use of project royalties, and the safeguard policies of the World Bank. The impacts of Phase 1 of the Lesotho Highlands Water Project are examined, and an assessment of the LHWP relative to other large-scale infrastructure and resettlement projects in Africa and Asia sponsored by the World Bank and other funding agencies is provided.
KEYWORDS
Dams, Lesotho, World Bank, Resettlement, Compensation, Development, Cooperatives, Safeguard Policies, Environmental and Social Frameworks
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Robert K. Hitchcock , "The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Dams, Development, and the World Bank ," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 3, No. 10, pp. 526 - 538, 2015. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.031004.
(b). APA Format:
Robert K. Hitchcock (2015). The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Dams, Development, and the World Bank . Sociology and Anthropology, 3(10), 526 - 538. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2015.031004.