Resources

Lake Victoria, the largest African lake, is shared by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Its fisheries are a source of livelihoods for a large population of the lake's basin through fishing, trade and associated activities. It also contributes to the economies of the three countries through fish exports. The declining trend of fish harvests and fish stock biomass, attributed mainly to increasing fishing effort and illegal fishing, threatens the sustainability of the lake's fisheries. The regional trade in immature fish backed by high-level corruption has exacerbated the decline.

Human-induced wetland fragmentation threatens the sustainability of communities' livelihoods and has caused an 80 percent decline in the population of Uganda's national bird, the Grey Crowned Crane (Balearica regulorum). Using participatory approaches, the Cranes and Wetland Conservation project in the Lake Victoria basin has facilitated community participation in sustainable wetland utilisation using cranes as flagship species.

The 2017 African Great Lakes Conference, Entebbe, Uganda resolved to advance the African Great Lakes Information Platform (AGLI) (this platform) established by The Nature Conservancy. AGLI was created to promote research and collaboration and support decision-making to ensure the inter-generational sustainability of the lakes and their basins. AGLI will be hosted at the University of Nairobi and managed jointly with the African Center for Aquatic Research and Education. 

Members of this project will host an applied, collaborative workshop which creates lake committees on each of the African Great Lakes. Each lake committee will consist of relevant freshwater experts to harmonize and prioritize research, guide regional research efforts, and facilitate communications between partner countries to positively affect freshwater policy and management using regular in-person meetings, the African Great Lakes Inform, and other relevant means.

e-CAS is a software developed to manage fish catch and related statistics. The software provides an opportunity for fisheries authorities to engage Beach Management Units in collecting fisheries and related statistics which are then sent by use of mobile phones to a central computer system for processing and utilization. The system increases the frequency of data collection as per the LTA and LVFO standard operating procedure.