LVRLAC was founded in 1997 by major Cities and Municipalities within Lake Vitoria sub-region, with an overall objective of mobilizing and facilitating member local Authorities in Lake Victoria basin and its catchment area to work towards a coordinated and sustained utilization of this water resource, for the benefit and harmonization of the co-existence of the local communities. Since the Rivers, wetlands, and the general environment within the lake catchment area naturally have a symbiotic relationship in their existence, they are always considered in all LVRLACC interventions as a strategy, the riparian communities in the Lake region are always put at the forefront in the execution of all LVRLACC activities. The network has since establishment registered a commendable growth with a current membership of 135 member Local Authorities (mainly urban), across the 3 countries namely: Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda with prospective membership from Rwanda and Burundi.
- Lake Victoria – The Resource
Lake Victoria resource is trans-boundary and found in the East African Sub-region. It is the world’s second largest fresh water body and Africa’s largest water body. It is therefore a resource of monumental political, economic, biological and environmental significance locally and internationally. The Lake covers 68,870 square Kms, stretching across three countries shared in the percentage coverage as: Tanzania (49%), Uganda (45%) and Kenya (6 %). Its basin of 184,200 square Kms extends beyond the above three countries to include Rwanda and Burundi. It is the source of livelihood for an estimated 35 million people. The Lake is Africa Continent’s single most important source of inland fishery production and each year an estimated 500,000 tones of fish are harvested from its waters providing food and livelihood for about half a million people.
The gross economic product of the lake catchment is estimated at between US$3-4 billion annually. All in all close to a third of the combined population of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda is dependent on the lake catchment for a livelihood. Apart from the larger cities of: Kampala capital city (Uganda), Kisumu city (Kenya) and Mwanza city (Tanzania), much of the Lake catchment economy is agricultural with a number of cash crops (including exports of fish) and a high level of subsistence fishing and agriculture. As a result, the quality of the physical environment is a fundamental factor in maintaining and increasing the living standards of the growing population in the Lake basin. Against this background any deterioration in the productivity of the lake region does automatically have a very significant impact on the economic fortunes of the entire region for the current and future generation.
- Current Status of Lake Victoria
Increasingly, Lake Victoria is getting threatened mainly due to human activities which includes but not limited to; overfishing, poor fishing methods, deforestation around the lake, sand mining, human settlement, and lake pollution with solid waste, medical waste, and hazardous industrial waste all of which affect the eco system and if nothing is done this great resource will be pushed to extinction. Therefore LVRLAAC was established to mitigate some of these challenges in a concerted manner and for sure it has done and continues to do some work.