International Journal of Environmental Science and Development

Abstract—Lesotho, a small country with about two million inhabitants and completely enmeshed within South Africa, is one of the developing countries and emerging/subsistence economies. Faced with ongoing urbanization and the pressures that this puts on the environment, public health and safety concerns are rife, calling for adequate steps to be taken. This is especially given the fact that various industrial and agricultural practices take place in the country and, in particular, given the closeness of the people and animals, increasing the risk of zoonotic diseases.
This research highlighted, through a desk study and site visits, a situational analysis of the current rate at which emerging economies such as Lesotho are becoming modernised through so-called urbanization, and the impacts that this may have on the environment, together with the concomitant burden on public health and general safety. Recommendations for possible economically sustainable interventions are given. Such will ensure that the environment is protected in a sustainable manner and that people stay healthy, while urbanization is on course.

Index Terms—Urbanisation, public health, environment, sustainability.

Sunny Aiyuk is with Department of Environmental Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, National University of Lesotho, PO Roma 180, Lesotho (e-mail: se.aiyuk@nul.ls).

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Cite: Sunny Aiyuk, "Urbanization and Environmental Health, a Safety Concern for Lesotho," International Journal of Environmental Science and Development vol. 8, no. 8, pp. 606-609, 2017.