Climate Change

Lake Victoria freshwater fishes are highly vulnerable to climate change, having high sensitivity, seemingly poor adaptive capacity and an expected high exposure to change. (International Union for Conservation Nature IUCN 2017)

Also East Africa, and especially the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), is among the regions most vulnerable to climate variabilityand change, a situation aggravated by the interaction of “multiple stressors,” occurring at various levels as well asthe low adaptive capacity of the population. This is partly because of human and socioeconomic factors, but climatealso makes it one of the most vulnerable regions in the world.Recent socioeconomic impacts of severe and prolonged droughts in the LVB states demonstrate the sensitivityand vulnerability of local populations. Over 10 percent of the basin’s population is gradually becoming chronicallyfood insecure, requiring support for both short-term emergency food relief and sustainable long-term developmentprograms. (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2018)

Blue Victoria is working toward monitoring effects of climate change to fish species in the lake, and also engaging lake basin community for mitigation and adaption of climate change