Rising to the challenge: socioeconomic development opportunities in Lesotho

Abstract

The present report contains a multidimensional diagnostic evaluation of the national development context of Lesotho. Key trends in the social and economic development of the country over the past two decades are highlighted in order to identify areas of progress and opportunities, as well as the gaps and bottlenecks that Lesotho is facing in confronting and overcoming its socioeconomic development challenges. The present report shows that gender inequality in households shapes the terms and conditions under which women and men engage in work and care and how that inequality structures the operation of the economy in Lesotho. The report shows that this productivity record is replicated in industry, in textile and apparel manufacturing and in services. Poor productivity performance is largely responsible for poverty in Lesotho and the country’s inadequate social development during the first two decades of the twenty-first century. Lying behind this economic record has been a marked deterioration in governance since 2012. In this context, the present report provides an outline of a comprehensive package of economic reforms that could improve social and human development in Lesotho. The report provides five specific objectives for government policy and contains suggestions for short, medium and long-term policy interventions that could meet the challenges relating to the country’s socioeconomic development by unlocking opportunities to improve the livelihoods of the people of Lesotho. It observes that the National Strategic Development Plan II Strategic Focus 2023/24–2027/28 offers a route out of development distress and notes the significant opportunities to place Lesotho on a socioeconomic growth path that is consistent with the Sustainable Development Goals.