| dc.description.abstract | Introduction
The quarter ending September 2012 and most of our activities in the past year point to the fact that the issues and challenges facing the
Lake Victoria Basin remain largely the
same.
Environmentally, the Basin faces
challenges of degradation due to
deforestation, poor watershed
management and land use, uncontrolled
water abstraction, pollution, and the
water hyacinth and other invasive
weeds, to mention a few. On the
economic front, the Basin is faced by
extremely low investment in transport,
poor farming and industrial production
methods, as well as limitations caused
by poor infrastructure. Importantly, the
Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC)
in particular and the East African
Community as a whole are challenged
by the need to transform the Basin into
a truly regional Economic Growth Zone
in the shortest time possible.
Strategic Interventions
I am glad to mention that despite the
above-mentioned challenges, LVBC and
its partner institutions are working
tirelessly to address and reverse the
environmental challenges of the
Basin through regional and national
interventions.
Under the Lake Victoria Environmental
Management Project Phase II (LVEMP
II), for instance, a water hyacinth
surveillance, monitoring and control
strategy and a sustainable land
management strategy for the Lake
Victoria Basin have been completed.
Th e two strategies shall support
improvement in the environment,
safeguard human health and ensure
that land in the Basin is managed in
a sustainable manner. In addition,
industries to voluntarily adopt Cleaner
Production Technologies and I am glad
to note that more and more industries
are joining the endeavour to reduce
point-source pollution in the Basin.
Th e Community Driven Development
projects are also starting to take shape
at the grassroots in selected sub-
catchments. | en_US |
