LAKE VICTORIA BASIN

Urbanization

As early as the thirteenth and fourteenth century, Lake Victoria was surrounded by organized and settled communities, with strong trade and cultural ties (UNEP 2006). The arrival of foreign settlers in the eighteenth century further strengthened the trade links. The earlier barter trading system became more developed as canoes and dhows began transporting goods around the Lake. Market centres developed and later small towns grew around the Lake ports. This was the origin of some of the Basin’s major towns, including Entebbe and Jinja in Uganda; Kisumu and Homabay in Kenya; and Mwanza, Musoma and Bukoba in Tanzania (UNEP 2006). More recently, many of these towns have seen a dramatic increase in population. Figure 3.2 shows population growth trends of some of the major urban settlements within and near the Lake Victoria Basin. The population of the major urban settlements within the Lake Victoria Basin range from 0.2 to 2 million (World Bank 2016). A study conducted by the Lake Victoria Environment Management Project (LVEMP) indicates that there are 87 large towns in LVB, of which 51 are in Kenya, 30 in Tanzania and 6 in Uganda (Lake Victoria

Informal settlements are a result of rapid urbanization

Basin Commission 2007). Urbanization in the LVB has led to a proliferation of informal ‘squatter’ settlements in some major towns. These settlements lack proper waste disposal and sanitary facilities. Less than 30 per cent of households in these towns are connected to a sewer system. Sewage treatment facilities in all the major towns are generally in poor condition. Raw sewage is discharged into small rivers and streams or directly into Lake Victoria, contributing significantly to water pollution and eutrophication, further exacerbating the water hyacinth threat (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007).

Kigali is one of the fast growing cities in East Africa

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