Mavis Macheka

Dr. Mavis Thokozile Macheka is a Lecturer in the Department of Development Studies at National University of Lesotho in Lesotho. She holds a DPhil in Development Studies from the University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa specialising in political ecology and rural development. She also obtained a MA and Post-Graduate Diploma in Development Studies from Midlands State University, Zimbabwe, Post-Graduate Diploma in Higher and Tertiary Education from Great Zimbabwe University, Zimbabwe and BA degree from Masvingo State University (now known as Great Zimbabwe University), Zimbabwe 

Mavis was offered the LUCAS/LAHRI Virtual Visiting Research Fellowship 2024 on the theme “African ecologies”. This is carried out through a research project titled: “The potential for climate justice in Lesotho: Experiences from mining companies in Mokhotlong district”. During the fellowship with the University of Leeds, she will be collaborating with Leeds academic, Anna Mdee, Professor in the Politics of Global Development (School of Politics and International Studies {POLIS}). 

Project Overview 

While acknowledging the frequency and destructive nature of climate-related disasters in Southern Africa, the extent to which the exploration and extraction of natural resources on climate change cannot be underestimated. On one hand, Southern Africa continues to endure devastating cyclones and droughts that hit, while on the other, extractive industries, release greenhouse gases that foster deforestation and degradation in most instances. Globally, scholars have discussed the socio-economic and ecological impact of mineral-based extraction on local communities. As Yang and Ho (2019) argue, even though local communities are able to derive business and other more indirect opportunities from mining activities, the attendant detrimental effects that come with environmental pollution, land expropriation and settlement should not be under-estimated. Similarly, Abuya (2018), documents the many conflicts associated with land ownership, loss of assets, and the abuse of human rights that come with the expansion of mining activities in Kenya.  

Lesotho is well-endowed with mineral resources; diamonds being the main commodity mined there. The extraction of natural resources in Lesotho uproots local communities as they pave the way for local and global mining companies while leaving many parts of its highly eroded places degraded. This displacement leaves many marginalised groups vulnerable after relocation to fragile lands with limited access to pastures, arable land and water. As a result, the call for climate justice has been louder than before. Different works have shown how extractive industries affect the environment but few have laid emphasis on the initiatives and intervention strategies by investors on the protection of the environment. Against this background, this proposed study seeks to explore the role of government/state actors and mining investors in promoting climate justice and environmental protection in Lesotho. In doing so, the study analyses the (in)adequacy of Lesotho’s legal frameworks in mandating investors to promote environmental protection, climate justice and adaptation strategies. Lesotho’s environmental crisis is deeply embedded in the wider political economy of degradation, desiccation and human impact, hence this study’s endeavour to integrate political ecology analysis  in the policies, regulations and community strategies of the Basotho people in the Mokhotlong district where huge diamond corporates are mining.