Territorial development: An innovative approach for Lesotho

Our four-hour drive from Maseru, the capital city of the Kingdom of Lesotho, took us along the A2 highway that leads us to Thaba-Tseka town in one of Lesotho’s most lagging districts. We immediately saw that unlike Maseru City, Thaba-Tseka boasts little in terms of built-up area. A stream of low-rise structures is followed by scattered low-density housing units and a big roadside open-air market, made up largely of make-shift kiosks. Nestled in Lesotho’s highlands, it’s a small town that would be easy to overlook. It is a far cry from Maseru City that drives a lion’s share of the Basotho economy or even bustling border towns like Hlotse and Maputsoe that are closely knit with South Africa. Nevertheless, in our discussions with the District Administration, the need to invest here was evident because people from the rural parts of the district rely on the town for basic services and usually spend a few years here before moving to Maseru City or somewhere in South Africa.

Despite its relatively small size, Lesotho is highly ecologically diverse comprising lowlands, highlands, foothills, and the Sequnyane River Valley. During our field trips, it became apparent that Lesotho’s varying topography is intertwined with its poverty profile and economic geography. Recognizing this, we at the World Bank Group have been working with the Government of Lesotho to bring an innovative development approach in the latest Country Partnership Framework: territorial development.

Our analysis is captured in The Lesotho Territorial Development Report, which provides a comprehensive assessment of the country’s development challenges and offers spatially-differentiated recommendations to accelerate economic growth and development. Analyzing the country along four metrics—density (GDP concentration), distance (access to markets), disparity (access to services), and disaster risk (vulnerability to climate events), we identified areas of economic activity, climate vulnerability, and basic service needs.

 
Based on these metrics, our analysis shows that lowland towns (Maseru City, Hlotse, Maputsoe) are the most consequential to the Basotho economy but also at the highest risk of disruption from floods. Small market towns like Thaba-Tseka town are classified as urban highlands. As the discussions with the District Administration revealed, such highlands towns form a bridge between the people in Lesotho’s rural highlands (the country’s most lagging areas) and lowlands as they migrate in search of better economic opportunities. Other parts of the highlands like Semonkong, another site we visited to study the developments in the area, have high tourism potential, while the rural lowlands drive the country’s agricultural output and remain vulnerable to droughts.

Map of Lesotho showing urban and rural areas in lowlands and highlands

As our analysis shows, the territorial development approach breaks away from a one-size-fits-all thinking to a customized framework that leverages the economic endowments and strengths of leading and lagging areas and responds to their differing needs. In doing so, we show the why and how behind recommended investments in the country’s economic centers, while trying to reduce inequality and raise the standard of living across the entire territory.

What does applying the territorial development approach mean for Lesotho? It means we are bringing an effective set of recommendations with feedback from the government to tackle the specifics of the lowlands and highlands, distinguishing between urban and rural areas, to increase access to services, economic opportunities, and climate resilience. These spatially-differentiated recommendations are backed by national-level actions on key fronts like local governance, climate resilience, and business environment.

For example, on improving access to services, we show the need for both access and quality services in lowland towns with the highest population density. In highland towns, our focus is on a minimum level of livability, whereas in rural lowlands it is on boosting agricultural productivity through better water and electricity access. Given the low population density in rural highlands and the country’s limited resources, we recommend exploring non-network solutions like mobile healthcare vans/services while simultaneously improving links to urban highlands.

We also capture interactions across development areas in the recommendations. For example, connective infrastructure investments will support economic opportunities by deepening value chains across lowlands and highlands and also alleviate the risk of the areas being cut off due to climate events like urban floods and deep snow emergencies. By adopting a territorial approach, we expect that Lesotho can address the specific needs and characteristics of different regions, promote inclusive and sustainable development, and create a more resilient future.

“This is a bittersweet moment for me. My tenure as the World Bank Resident Representative in Lesotho is ending, but I feel happy and proud that we have developed this innovative territorial approach that will support economic and development planning in the country,” shared Yoichiro Ishihara. “Under the leadership of the Ministry of Finance and Development Planning and in collaboration with other entities at the national and local levels of government, the report’s findings and recommendations are expected to bring more customized solutions to the Basotho people.”