Community Perception on Lake Victoria Basin Resources Degradation: Implications to Sustainable Management

Degradation of Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) resources due to deforestation, illegal fishing and unsustainable farming practices is among the major challenge to the natural resources managers and the livelihood of surrounding communities. Several measures have been proposed to mitigate the situation. These measures range from policies, laws, regulations to technical options. Despite these efforts, adherence to these regulations and adoption of the proposed technologies is low. Among the factors that can influence household adoption of a particular technology is perception of the problem and the technology itself. This has not been thoroughly investigated and integrated in development and promotion of mitigation options. This research assessed the local community perception on the LVB resources, levels of degradation and the causes. The research was done in selected sites within LVB in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda. Data was collected through questionnaire interviews and focused group discussion to 334 respondents. Collected data was descriptively analyzed using means, frequencies, percentages and ranking. Results indicate that majority of community members perceive LVB resources to be currently more degraded than past twenty years. However, specific types of resources and levels of degradation do differ between countries. Degradation factors are personal, administrative, technical and policy related. Lack of alternatives is among the major driving forces to degradation activities. It is recommended that intervention efforts to reverse degradation situation need to consider local community perception and be of multiple nature to address technical, administrative and policy issues.