Investment Opportunities Unveiled

Abstract

Welcome to the second issue of the Lake Victoria Basin Digest for the period ending March 2011!The Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) organised a successfully-concluded first-ever Lake Victoria Basin Investment Forum, held in Mwanza, Tanzania, in early December last year. This issue provides insight into the rich discussions that took place during the plenary and seminar sessions of this eyeopening event. Forum resolutions, along with a summary of abstracts, are provided for your attention and ease of reference. The message from the Executive Secretary, Dr. Tom O. Okurut, provides synopsis of the growth, successes and challenges of the Commission during the fi ve years of its actualisation. He provides focus on the partnerships that have been progressively nurtured as well as the projects and programmes that emerged from such relationships. Pursuant to their oversight role, members of the East African Legislative Assembly Account Committee visited the LVBC Secretariat and made on-spot assessment of selected activities of the Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation Programme (MERECP) in the Mount Elgon region of Kenya. In this issue, we bring you what transpired during the Committee’s interaction with the LVBC staff and the benefi ciaries of MERECP’s activities. Our civil society partners, Vi-Agroforestry, have also provided an elaborate insight into new climate change counteracting efforts by a Kenyan agroforesty initiative. Finally, the Commission was graced by the visits of two Deputy Secretaries General of the East African Community and USAID-East Africa’s Regional Climate Change and Natural Resources Advisor to the LVBC Secretariat. We bring you stories of their interactions with us.