Lesotho Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

population pressure forcing settlement in marginal areas results in overgrazing, severe soil erosion, and soil exhaustion; desertification; Highlands Water Project controls, stores, and redirects water to South Africa

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Marine Life Conservation, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

temperate; cool to cold, dry winters; hot, wet summers

Land use

agricultural land: 76.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 10.1% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 0.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 65.9% (2018 est.)

forest: 1.5% (2018 est.)

other: 22.4% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 30.4% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.77% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Food insecurity

severe localized food insecurity:due to poor harvests and increased food prices - according to the latest national food security assessment, 22% of the rural population are expected to face acute food insecurity between October 2022 and March 2023, compared to 15% between July and September 2022; the forecasted proportion translates into 320,000 people in rural areas, while an additional 201,000 people in urban areas are foreseen to also need assistance; the foreseen increase of acute food insecurity levels is primarily due to the reduced harvest, high food prices in basic food and non‑food commodities and a slow recovery of households’ income reflecting a downturn in economic growth; harvesting of the 2022 main-season summer cereal crops, mostly maize and sorghum, is complete; production of maize, the main cereal staple, is about one‑third of the average, while the sorghum output is almost negligible; the poor harvest was primarily due to torrential rainfalls during January and February 2022, which caused localized flooding and resulted in crop losses (2022)

Revenue from forest resources

3.34% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 17.6 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 2.51 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 2.56 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 73,457 tons (2006 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Orange river source (shared with South Africa and Namibia [m]) - 2,092 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Atlantic Ocean drainage: Orange (941,351 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 20 million cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 3.8 million cubic meters (2017 est.)

Total renewable water resources

3.02 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)