When deeds speak, words are nothing

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re<thinkthe waywe useresourcesLake Victoria: Plasticon the water we drink“A problemthat needsto be addressednow, nottomorrow.”Plastic waste is clogging up the ecosystemaround Lake Victoria. As residentsrespond with creative upcyclingideas, many urge swift political actionto halt the inflow of rubbish.Sylivester DomasaDodoma, Tanzania18Plastic containers or bags can take hundredsof years to decompose. Their presence,however, taints the entire ecosystem. Expertsand residents around Lake Victoria callfor action, including new laws to protectAfrica’s largest freshwater lake and its localcommunities.Here, people from all walks of life, mostlywomen and young men, come to fish,make canoes, mend fishing nets, sell andprepare fish, cook and do other casual work.Their livelihood is threatened by dumpedplastic waste.Empty water plastic bottles, empty juicecontainers, polythene bags, plastic cups, plates,and, more recently, face masks are all discarded.Most of the waste is then blown by the windor carried by running water into the lake,inspiring some to develop creative solutions.“Plastic waste collected in the lake suchas sandals, plastic bags, and bottles can be usedto make products such as decorative, chairs,boats, and a pavilion that can be used for restaurantservices,” says Editrith Lukungu, theExecutive Director of a private environmentalconservation organisation in Tanzania.The organisation built a tent-like pavilionin Kamanga, Mwanza, from waste dumpedin Lake Victoria. It also provides productdevelopment training to groups of womenand youth in communities living along theshores of the lake.Editrith acknowledges that dumping wasteinto the lake proliferates due to increased accessto plastics, packaging, or shopping bags. Environmentalistsrejoiced when authorities bannedthe use of plastic bags in Tanzania. It was anapproach that has also been adopted in Kenya,Rwanda, and Uganda. But sadly, the newmeasures introduced in 2019 have not savedthe lake from excessive plastic pollution.Leticia Mahenyeka, a resident of Chifunfuvillage on the shores of Lake Victoria, lamentsthat plastics are everywhere. Not knowing howto face the crisis, she says authorities mustchange direction to protect the lake and the community.“This is a problem and needs to beaddressed now, not tomorrow, not later,” shesays. “Above all, it affects the water we drink.”Figures show that Lake Victoria Basin isamong the areas with the highest growth ratesglobally at 3.5 percent each year. In 2017, itwas home to about 40 million people with anaverage population density of 250 people persquare kilometre. Unfortunately, more than80 percent of communities living in the lake’sbasin lack a common litter bin. Plastic recyclingplants are also limited in Kenya, Uganda,Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi – the fiveLake Victoria Basin countries.Initially, there were debates over a growingtrend of restricting and banning plastic baguse. Elion Swai, an Industrial expert in Arusha,Tanzania, says an outright prohibition to theproduction, importation, sale and use of allsingle-use plastic bags in the country is an essentialstep towards shifting away from a lineareconomy in which resources are often usedonce and then discarded. But he cautions thatboth state and non-state actors must worktogether to raise environmental consciousnessamong consumers.“Plastic bag bans are problematic as theyare not the largest source of plastic pollution,”he says. “We have to consider any othersources of plastic waste and limit manufacturingor usage.”Reports have also suggested that plasticbag restrictions reduce their use but sometimeslead to environmental harm if customersswitch to other materials with larger resourcefootprints.
“Lake Victoriais undertremendouspressure.”Paper bags, for instance, can require400 percent more energy to make, not tomention the harvesting of trees and the useof harmful chemicals in production. Growingcotton “requires land, huge quantities ofwater, chemical fertilisers and pesticides”,says Swai.Biodegradable bags, perhaps surprisingly,could be “the worst option” in terms of theirimpact on climate, harm to soil, water pollution,and toxic emissions.Eco Ways Uganda announced it had founda novel way to reduce plastic waste by collectingdiscarded bags and bottles and upcyclingthem into new products, such as tables andfence poles.Like Editrith, Eco Ways is an emergingenvironmental entrepreneur setting up collectionpoints in the area. Observers argue thatsuch approaches should be intensified to helpshrink the number of ugly landfill spots onthe landscape which teem with plastic waste.Nearly 18 months after the Flipflopimade its first historical journey from Lamu,Kenya, to Zanzibar, Tanzania, the world’s firstpercent recycled plastic sailing boat (dhow)made another historic voyage, this time onLake Victoria.Over four weeks in early 2021, the Flipflopisailed around Lake Victoria, highlightingthe impact of pollution on this vital ecosystemand engaging governments, businessleaders, community leaders, conservationists,and students on viable solutions for thepollution menace.“There is clear evidence that the ecologyof Lake Victoria is under tremendous pressure.The lake plays a key role in facilitating communitylife in the East African region. I callon the governments of Kenya, Tanzania, andUganda to strengthen their cooperation toenhance the improvement of this importantraw material. UNEP and its partners areready to provide the necessary support toachieve this,” says Juliette Biao Koudenoukpo,UNEP Director and Representative for theAfrican Region.In July, Kenya Coast Guard Service (KCGS)described the dumping of plastic waste in LakeVictoria as alarming. Meanwhile, experts havesuggested that Kenya and Tanzania set up plantsor nets on all the major drainage channelsto trap litter before it reaches the lake. In SanFrancisco, California, authorities have usedsuch traps to prevent plastic waste fromreaching the sea.The Flipflopi is the world’s veryfirst 100 percent recycled plasticdhow (sailing boat), covered in30,000 multicoloured flip flops.Photo: Redningsselskapet /Sofi Lundin19
Page 1 and 2: When deeds speak, words are nothing
Page 3 and 4: ContentsEditorial: The board is big
Page 5 and 6: Preparing for climatechange impacts
Page 7 and 8: With more pressure on resources fro
Page 9 and 10: Dagim TerefeAddis Ababa, EthiopiaWi
Page 11 and 12: Tuver WundiGoma, Democratic Republi
Page 13 and 14: For years, waste, which has been a
Page 15 and 16: Historically, the Zabaleen were far
Page 17: “People can use their creativeski
Page 21 and 22: dig another well for disposing it,
Page 23 and 24: Rethinking water securityThe multip
Page 25 and 26: “We losea staggeringamountof wate
Page 27 and 28: “Working with local leaders, the
Page 29 and 30: A kerosene lamp floating ona fishin
Page 31 and 32: Otieno Ngare, a member ofthe same f
Page 33 and 34: “Seeing themadopt reliableand sus
Page 35 and 36: Mahmoud Yasin, a Tuti Islandfarmer.
Page 37 and 38: How to unlock opportunitiesand lowe
Page 39 and 40: Improving food security:One drip at
Page 41 and 42: Why Nile Basin wetlandsmatter: prov
Page 43 and 44: The real value of Nile Basinwetland
Page 45 and 46: The media needs to air more perspec
Page 47 and 48: “It ceased tobe a hydropowerdevel

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