Migration, Remittances and Development in Lesotho

INTRODUCTION

MIGRATION, REMITTANCES AND ‘DEVELOPMENT’ IN LESOTHO 4 kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk INTRODUCTION L esotho is one of the most migration-dependent countries in the world. Out of a population of around two million people, over 240,000 were recently estimated to be outside the country.1 Migrant remittances are the country’s major source of foreign exchange, accounting for 25% of GDP in 2006. Lesotho is also one of the poorest countries in the world due to high domestic unemployment, declining agricultural production, falling life expectancy, rising child mortality and half the population living below the poverty line. The majority of households and rural communities are dependent on remittances for their livelihood. Households without access to migrant remittances are significantly worse off than those that do have such access. According to the 2006 Lesotho National Human Development Report, “Migrant labourers’ remittances have played a critical role in providing household incomes over a long period of time. Remittances from Basotho migrant labourers in South Africa have allowed households to reduce their dependence on agriculture and make investments to supplement their farming activities.”2 While it is true that dependence on remittances stretches back many decades, this conclusion is highly misleading. Indeed, it is only possible because of a basic lack of reliable, representative data on remittance flows, uses and impacts at the household level. The relationship between migration, development and remittances in Lesotho has been exhaustively studied for the period up to 1990.3 This was an era when the vast majority of migrants from Lesotho were young men working on the South African gold mines and over 50 percent of households had a migrant mineworker. Since 1990, patterns of migration to South Africa have changed dramatically. The reconfiguration of migration between the two countries has had a marked impact on remittance flows to Lesotho. The central question addressed in this report is how the change in patterns of migration from and within Lesotho since 1990 has impacted on remittance flows and usage. Large claims have recently been made by agencies such as the World Bank about the development potential of migrant remittances.4 In Lesotho, as this report will demonstrate, such claims are overly optimistic. Remittance flows are a highly significant (often the only) source of income for many households. The loss of remittances would plunge them into destitution, a fact that does not suggest they are in a position to escape the “trap” of remittances-dependence through other sustainable forms of income generation. Unlike in many migrant-sending countries, the contribution of remittances to poverty reduction and to development prospects in Lesotho has been increasingly recognized at the policy level. In Lesotho’s 2004 Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (PRSP), for example, “migration features quite prominently in relation to discussion of the changing nature MIGRATION POLICY SERIES NO. 52 5 kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk of livelihood and poverty trends over the last two decades.”5 Lesotho’s 2006 National Human Development Report mentions the significance of migration to households on several occasions but misleadingly suggests that it has become less important since 1990.6 The country’s presentation at the 2006 UN High Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development in New York also recognized the importance of development -oriented regional and national migration policies.7 Lesotho is committed to implementation of the African Union’s Strategic Framework on International Migration and Common Position on Migration and Development. Furthermore, Lesotho is the only country in Southern Africa to have ratified the UN International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. Lesotho is also an active participant in the Migration Dialogue for Southern Africa (MIDSA), an inter-governmental forum for policy dialogue on migration within SADC.8 How to harness the potential of migration for development is a major challenge for Lesotho.9 In order to initiate such a debate (in Lesotho and South Africa), a comprehensive overview of Lesotho’s contemporary migration patterns and trends is required. Secondly, there is a need for nationally representative household data on remittance flows and their uses and impacts. Thirdly, data on migration and remittances must be disaggregated by gender in order to assess how changes in female migration are impacting remittance flows. Finally, information is needed on whether remittances are simply used for household basic needs or spent on consumer goods (as is commonly assumed) or whether, in fact, remittances are used for savings, investment and further wealth-generation for the household, community and country. The data collected for this...