Lake Victoria

Lake Victoria is Africa’s largest freshwater body characterized by an expansive catchment area and a large diversity of flora and fauna. Population growth has accelerated human activities within the basin, leading to the degradation of its resources, and thus reduced the utility of the available ecosystem services. Notable activities leading to the dwindling vibrancy of this ecosystem include poor agricultural practices, overfishing, industrial and domestic waste pollution, Nile perch introduction, and climate change. In a frantic endeavor to minimize the pace of degradation of this resource, increase its carrying capacity, and mobilize additional actors and resources toward its management and protection, a slew of interventions have been proposed. Key among these have been robust engagements with riparian communities as vanguards for its near shores but also further afield, adoption of technology to monitor key biological and water quality parameters are seen as strategic tools to birth data for target interventions. © 2025 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.