Nam Lolwe is the Luo name for Lake Victoria, which means an endless, undying mass of water. Yet the lake’s staying power seemed threatened, thanks to polluters and the invasive water hyacinth. With the decline of fish stocks and deteriorating water quality, experts had already filed Lolwe’s death certificate.
As they say, defiance defines immortality. Lake Victoria, which was succumbing to wasteful land practices and wetlands destruction, has defied all forms of assault and is now a beacon of hope for its users, including the regional fishing industry.
The lake has been pulled out of the jaws of death by an ambitious management project funded by the World Bank and which chiefly aimed at redeeming the world’s second largest fresh-water lake after Lake Superior of North America.
“The project has helped set up a functional water quality laboratory, the gazettement of fish breeding areas and a fish quality laboratory, reduced water hyacinth infestation and has also increased the assessment of the wetlands” says Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme (LVEMP) project coordinator, Dr Stephen Njoka.
The project covers the three east African countries that share directly the 68,800 sq. km water mass – with a catchments area of 193,000 sq.km. It was established following a tripartite agreement in 1994.
The project’s purpose is to restore the lake’s resources and support sustainable utilization of the catchments area. It became effective in 1997 when the World Bank and the Global Environmental Facility (GEF) agreed to fund it.
Some 10 years later, the project, which stuttered initially owing to mismanagement, has produced results. A number of fish species thought to be extinct, such as the barbus (fuani), have re-emerged in nearby streams that feed the lake.
The hyacinth cover has been reduced by about 80 per cent, from 17,230 hectares in 1997 to 384 hectares in 2004, following the introduction of the Neochetina weevils.
With a KShs6 billion (US$80 million) financial support, the five-year project started with the initial launch overseen by senior government officials from the three countries, giving in a new hope to environmentalists, lake transporters and fishermen, who had earlier called for the removal of the invasive and fast-proliferating weed.
In Kenya, the implementation was carried out by the ministry of environment and natural resources, and Prof. Joseph Ojiambo was appointed the chief coordinator at the secretariat in Nairobi.
When the fifth year came to an end, Tanzania and Uganda had met donor conditions or standards. Kenya’s implementation was in disarray. Bureaucracy had made it impossible to access the requisite funds.
Critics claim that government procedure led to under-utilization of funds that were being returned to the treasury every year, yet progress was slow compared with that in Kenya’s two neighbours.
Protests by environmental activists and politicians forced the project to be transferred from the ministry to the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) which would run it for two years, from 2003 to 2005.
According to Njoka, who replaced Ojiambo, the donors chose KARI due to its internationally acclaimed research work. The LVEMP chief reveals that it has since made a lot of progress, ranging from capacity building, harmonizing fisheries legislation, establishing a water quality monitoring system, long-term management and control of the hyacinth to inventory and resource survey of the wetlands.
His organisation’s achievements so far can be attested to by the European Union’s decision to upgrade the Kenyan fish from List II to List I, a sign that the project has helped to improve quality control to ensure safety.
Njoka notes that the LVEMP success has seen the re-establishment of an EU export market for Nile perch, which was suspended in 1998 on claims of poor handling and storage.
“We have managed this far because of biological control which is self-sustaining, a cost-effective and environmentally friendly method of managing the weed,” adds the LVEMP hyacinth component coordinator, Dr. Mwende Kusewa, who dismisses the mechanical removal technique used in the early 1997.
Kusewa notes that KARI has also imported Niphograpta moths and mites, other bio-control agents that are being observed and multiplied pending exportation later to Tanzania and Uganda.
“We have tested these in other plants and found out that they only feed on the water hyacinth”, she adds.
KARI has also trained 28 school teachers on weevil rearing and release as part of its policy of involving the riparian communities in the weed’s management and control.
“We have also constructed weevil rearing units in 15 schools neighbouring the lake and also trained pupils and students on the basic rearing skills as part of empowering the communities to be self-reliant in our absence,” she reveals.
Kusewa is, however, worried about a few hot spots along the shore where the plant continues to flourish with little or no establishment of the weevils due to high nutrient levels in the areas.
She says that their study has also
identified infestations within the river systems that include Yala, Sondu, Kasat, Kuja and Lambwe.
In an effort to help stamp out pollution, the water quality component has developed an inventory for point and non-point pollution and nutrient inflows into the lake. “This has made our work easy for we are now in a position to identify polluters and advise them on what to do on a regular basis”, says deputy coordinator Omanwa Masogo.
He reveals that a water mass balance for the lake has also been developed regionally at 33m2/sec. With the setting up of a water quality laboratory in Kisumu that is to sample soil as well as water, some effectiveness is now in the offing. An oil spills and toxic waste disaster management contingency plan has been developed.
The fisheries management department whose duty is to improve the protection of the resource, has benefited immensely from the project, considering that the E U fish ban due to salmonella infections. A modern fish quality laboratory has been built and equipped. “Through funds from the project, 113 fish breeding sites have been identified and 98 protected and gazetted, enforcing closed breeding season regionally for various species, especially the omena,” says fisheries official Phanuel Rambiri.
A survey conducted by fisheries officials also indicates a reduction of fishermen from 57,000 to 34,000 between 2002 and 2004, a fact attributed partly to the reduction or extinction of some species.
Mandated to carry out studies on fish biology, biodiversity conservation, sustainable production and dissemination of research findings, Kenya Marine Fisheries Institute (KEMFRI) has gazetted breeding areas as well as identifying biodiversity hotspots.
Support from the project also led to the identification of satellite lakes [Kanyaboli and Sare] that were found to be home to species previously thought to be extinct.
The study discovered rivers as an alternative source after the barbus, or fuani, was found to be thriving in especially Kuja.
According to KMFRI’s Andrew Asila, two scientific books, Fisheries of lake Victoria Basin: Their Ecology, Biology and Fisheries and Aquatic Biodiversity of Lake Victoria Basin, have been published to enhance conservation and sustainable use.
The study has helped identify areas where different species do better, hence enabling scientists to introduce other at the more conducive areas.
LVEMP, through the catchments afforestation component, has moved to Nandi South and North districts as well as Kericho and Uashin Gishu, where most rivers that drain into lake originate from. This follows a study that reveals that the lake pollution originates from the highlands due to poor land use.
“Ten million tree seedlings have so far been raised through 80 community-based organizations, and 3,555 hectares in the forest reserve along river Nyando catchments alone have been planted”, component coordinator Bernard Orinda reveals.
He notes that 17 farm units have so far adopted agroforestry to reduce pressure on the government forests. “We have developed a tree nursery manual for farmers, taken farmers for exchange tours to Tanzania and also enlisted 60 schools in the afforestation programme,” Orinda adds.
Under the component 11 water springs are protected, with 40 per cent being on the farmlands, while three more are under construction.
Working very closely in the afforestation is the integrated soil and water conservation component that is mandated to help to reduce the flow of nutrients and sediments from the River Nyando catchments into the lake.
Under the ministry of agriculture and applying the national extension approach, the component that is concentrated within Nyando catchments that contributes a lot of pollution to the lake, has set up 42 tree nurseries and excavated five water pans, besides protecting 13 springs.
Coordinator Joseph Chirchir attributes the success so far to the communities’ empowerment approach through participatory rural appraisals.

.As the wetlands continue being threatened following exploitation by the local communities, the project has established a pilot site at Siteko wetlands in Busia district of western Kenya for research and demonstration of wise wetland use and management. “We have also facilitated the patenting of doum palms baskets and Marachi chairs to ensure ownership by the Bunyala and Marachi communities”, discloses Stanley Ambasa, the wetlands task coordinator.
Since Kenya lacks wetland-buffering techniques, the project has contracted an Australian expert to help come up with filtering techniques that will boost the municipalities’ and town councils’ sewerage plants.
“The buffering capacity study is ongoing at Donosoyiet and Marula wetlands in both Kericho and Uashin Gishu districts in the Rift Valley and is expected to be completed soon,” adds Ambasa.