The Wealth of Lake Victoria Basin

The land resources in the LVB generate local, national and global benefits that are important for food security and rural livelihoods. However, this large agro-biodiversity is threatened by habitat modification and fragmentation, a reduction in vegetation cover and species diversity and over-exploitation and competition from invasive species, mainly as a consequent of human population growth. The LVB covers about 19400 Km², shared amongst Tanzania (44%), Kenya (22%), Uganda (16%), Rwanda (11%), and Burundi (7%). It has about 35,000,000 people with a population density of about 300 per km², which is higher than the national averages of Uganda (235), Burundi (210), Tanzania (190), Kenya (342), and Rwanda (378). The LVB has immense natural resources that include forests, savannah, rangelands, and fisheries which provide livelihood for communities around the basin. The demands to meet the needs of the rapidly increasing population and domestic animals in the form of space, shelter, space, food, water, health services, and waste disposal, puts very high pressure on the resources of the basin (LVBC, 2011). Since the 1970s, Lake Victoria's water quality has declined significantly, mainly due to increased sedimentation, water pollution and eutrophication, caused mainly by poor land use management within the Basin (LVB).