ILM: more than mere management

Although landlocked, there are few African countries as well-watered as Uganda. The White Nile traverses much of the country and as well as the ample resources provided by its source, Lake Victoria, there are other important water-bodies wholly within the country including Lake Kyoga in the centre and Lake George in the south west. The local communities may be predominantly dependent on artisanal fishing, but the surrounding wetlands and agricultural land also feature in the complex livelihoods of the people living on and near the shores of these lakes.

Credit: John Warburton, DFID

The complexity of people's lives is matched by the difficulty in effectively managing the resources. Lake Kyoga, for instance, is part of ten districts and many sub-counties. With decentralisation, each district may have differing policies and each can impact differently on the small and scattered communities around the edges of the lake. However, to help improve the livelihoods of poor people in these communities, a new management approach - Integrated Lake Management (ILM) - is being developed. With funding from the UK Department of International Development (DFID), the participatory process is about building an institutional framework that depends on partnerships between local communities, local governments and other agencies. This cross-sectoral framework and approach allows greater involvement of local communities in decision-making processes for effective co-management. It has been piloted first on Lake George and is now being developed for Lake Kyoga, a larger and more diverse system.

Lake George is a relatively small lake with no more than eight landing sites and surrounded by only three districts and four sub-counties. The lake lies within the Queen Elizabeth National Park, which means that very little agriculture is practised within the region and therefore the local communities are particularly dependent on the lake resources. An environmental study conducted during the start of the project, identified a number of potential threats to the Lake George system, including industrial pollution, hillside erosion and the impact of irrigation and hydropower. All those involved with dealing with these and other potential management problems are brought together under a new lake wide management institution called the Lake George Basin Integrated management Organisation (LAGBIMO). Representatives from the major stakeholder groups, including local government and communities and national institutions and ministries as well the Uganda Wildlife Authority all form part of this new organisation. This has been achieved through an on-going consultative process to ultimately decide how the lake-wide resources are to be best managed. This has recently culminated in legal ratification of LAGBIMO by the three district councils and imminent inauguration at national level.

A way forward to improving rural livelihoods

Credit: John Warburton, DFID

On Lake Kyoga, hundreds of thousands of people are dependent on the natural resources that the system provides and yet, in the last thirty years, the abundance of fish - particularly Nile Perch and Tilapia - has decreased. Without effective co-management, this scenario is unlikely to improve as fish stocks continue to be depleted. But, like the process for Lake George, there are many pieces that contribute to the jigsaw and each has to be carefully brought together if the final picture is to be complete and representative of each group's needs. Participation, communication, consensus, and empowerment are key building blocks in the establishment of the strong partnerships and good governance required for effective lake-wide institutions. In achieving this, the process of ILM that has been established on Lake George is shining a light on the path of understanding and integration for lake-wide management on Kyoga.

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