Lake Victoria: In the fabric of every basic need for Ugandans

 By Dr. Tom Okurut

After marking World Environment Day on Wednesday, we should remember and build on the Vision Group efforts to save Lake Victoria. The Vision Group should be commended considering the importance of this lake to the region and globally. The campaign has exposed critical issues which must be addressed.

Saving Lake Victoria is an issue of economic importance. It is not a choice. 

Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater lake in Africa, with a surface area of about 68,800 sq. km shared between Kenya (6%), Uganda (45%) and Tanzania (49%). The catchment area of the lake covers 180,959 km2; 15.9% of this is constituted by Uganda. Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi accounts for 44%, 21.5%, 11.4% and 7.2% respectively of the watershed.

Lake Victoria is the most important shared natural resource of the East African Community. The management and development focus of the resources of the lake is challenging and complex because of the sharing aspects and the different competing multi-stakeholders at national and regional level. This is unlike lakes Kyoga and George that are entirely within Uganda.

The socio-economic importance of Lake Victoria to Uganda and other countries of the region arises from both the intrinsic and tangible values that this lakes provides and includes:

(i)                 Reservoir for hydroelectric power generation along the Nile River; the energy lifeline for Uganda is provided for by the hydropower station of Nalubale, Kira and Bujagali and in the future Karuma. The lake assures us of the vital resource – water for generation of power. The economic value of the hydropower from the Nile and hence Lake Victoria to Uganda is immense. Just assume Lake Victoria dry ups and then the impacts.

(ii)               Fishery business; Lake Victoria is the largest inland water fishing sanctuary in the region. In Uganda over two million people are directly and indirectly employed in fisheries business.  By 2009, fish (most from LV) was the second most important export, accounting for 6 percent of total export earnings (UEPB 2009) and contributed 2.5 percent to Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

(iii)             A reservoir of water for domestic, industrial and commercial purposes; all the water consumed in most of the urban areas within the Lake Basin is derived from this Lake and it is a constant only requiring the technology to tap it.

(iv)             Inland water transport; the lake provides the cheapest linkage for trade in within Uganda and in the region. Unlike Kenya, and Tanzania, Uganda has not tapped fully  this value of the lake; the opportunities are abound

(v)               Climate modulation; the lake influences the climatic conditions in Uganda and other riparian’s in a manner that the region despite recent climate change effects has less variable weather, a critical dependable factor for agricultural production and associated industry in Uganda.

(vi)             Biodiversity reservoir; Lake Victoria is very rich in biodiversity and this is the single most important insurance policy for the sustainability of its natural resources. The biodiversity combined with the scenic beauty of the lake, is one of the important contributors to increased tourist arrivals in the country and the investment in the hospitality industry. Uganda was named by lonely planet as the best tourist destination partly because of Lake Victoria.

The above key values of Lake Victoria are for Uganda as a country, aspects of its very survival and must be drivers to mobilize every Uganda to be responsible of the environment where we live and hence this lake.
 
If this lake dries (Science data indicates it did so once!) now, the consequences are unimaginable.

Considering that 82% of the lake’s annual water budget is from direct rainfall into the lake and the remainder from rivers and tributaries, it means that the conditions which favor rain formation (forests, wetlands, mountains etc) must be held in consistency if the lake is to continue meeting economic and social needs of Ugandans.

Other factors such as settlements in fragile ecosystems, poor farming practices that enhance soil erosion and soil nutrient losses; indiscriminate tree cutting; poor waste management practices among others must be dealt with head on if this lake has to continue providing these services to us here in Uganda and elsewhere.

It is the responsibility of every Ugandan to do her/his part to contribute to governments effort to ensure that this lake is here today for us but also there for the generations of tomorrow just as forefathers did so for us.

The writer is the Executive Director of National Environment Management Authority (NEMA)