Rising Lake Victoria Water Levels: Boon or Bust?

Lake Victoria water level has risen to new heights, breaking the record that was attained 55 years ago. In May 1965, hydrologists measured the water level and established that it was at an average of 1,134.27 meters above the sea level.

However, in March 2020, the level had reached 1,134.47 meters above sea level. As a result, over the last few months, many shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have been submerged.

But environmentalists have warned that in future, the (unpredictable) rise in water levels will intensify the occurrence of floods, this will affect livelihoods and economic activities at the shores of Lake Victoria which are already awash with challenges of pollution, encroachment and destruction of swamps.

In Bunyala sub county (Kenya), at the beginning of March it was reported by The Star Newspaper that a backflow from the lake had resulted in flood victims affecting over 260 families at Musoma and Sidokho in Bunyala South ward. This prompted the Busia Governor Sospeter Ojaamong to ask for assistance from Government of Kenya for dredging machines to desilt the lake, especially the mouth of River Nzoia.

On the other hand, in Tanzania, The Citizen newspaper reported that farmers, fishermen, transporters and livestock keepers might be rubbing their hands with glee following the rise of Lake Victoria water level, as this will positively impact their economic activities. 

Mr. Gerald Itimbula from the Lake Victoria Basin Water Board (LVBWB) was quoted by The Citizen Newspaper as saying that, ‘From a hydrology point of view, a rise in water levels means enough water for carrying out community projects like farming, livestock keeping, transportation, fishing and industrial activities”. He noted that the increase in water levels may also have some negative effects on people who conduct their income-generating activities close to the lake and thus the warning issued on February 8, 2020 for people living or having businesses close to the lake to relocate.

In Uganda, communities in Kalungu, Masaka, Kalangala, Entebbe, Wakiso and Kampala have been severely affected, as homes (including posh ones) and work places that have been submerged, including hotels (for example the Lake Victoria Serena Hotel - Kigo) and several beach fronts in Entebbe.

Explaining the occurrence, Dr Callist Tindimugaya, the water resources specialist in-charge of Lake Victoria management at the Ministry of Water and Environment was quoted by ChimpReports saying that Lake Victoria is refilling its parts where it had receded from. 

“When it rains, all the rain water from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and DR Congo comes into Lake Victoria and it does not come in one day. However, he warned that encroachers should expect the water to invade them because it is reclaiming the place where it used to be. Dr Tindimugaya added that the floods could get worse due to the rains and increasing inflows from mainly River Kagera and other rivers that pour water into Lake Victoria. 

While, Dr Ally Matano (Head, Lake Victoria basin Commission) strongly recommends that those people living in lowland vacate to avoid further disasters due to the an unprecedented rise of water levels since October 2019, it is equally important that the East African Community mobilizes all stakeholders and coordinates coherent bottom-up joint actions in the short to long-term in order to mitigate this challenge, that might put more livelihoods at stake than it is now.

IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook: A Blatant Notice to Defer CO2 Emissions by Advancing Renewable Energy options

Today, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) has released its first Global Renewables Outlook: Energy transformation 2050, amidst a global lock down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is no coincidence that among other findings, the Global Renewables Outlook calls for recovery measures following the COVID-19 pandemic to consider flexible power grids, efficiency solutions, electric vehicle charging, energy storage, interconnected hydropower, green hydrogen and other technology investments consistent with long-term energy and climate sustainability.

Overall, the Global Renewables Outlook notes that raising regional and country-level ambitions will be crucial to meet interlinked energy and climate objectives. This is further to the UNEP’s Emissions Gap Report (2019) fossil CO2 emissions from energy use and industry, which dominates total Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, grew 2.0 per cent in 2018, reaching a record 37.5 Gigatonnes of CO2 per year. There is no sign of GHG emissions peaking in the next few years. Since every year of postponed peaking means that deeper and faster cuts, acting now rather than tomorrow is urgent.

In 2020, as countries review and update their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), it is paramount that they take candid steps to scale up renewable energy in order to secure less and less emissions as we approach 2030.

According to the IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook Report, the Sub-Saharan Africa region whose average energy consumption per capita (51 GJ/year) is well below global average, holds over half the oil and gas reserves of the African continent.  On the contrary, bioenergy dominates the primary energy mix, accounting for 60% of primary energy demand while the share of energy supply from modern renewables is only about 10%. As a result, a growing numbers of people in Sub-Saharan Africa still lack access to clean cooking options, resulting in substantial degradation of forests and indoor air pollution.

According to UNECA, the lack of energy – traditional or renewable – for health care, agriculture, education, and economic diversification remains a critical barrier to overall growth and prosperity on the continent. In Africa, nearly 600 million people (about half the population) lack access to electricity, with 110 million of these living in urban areas—all within proximity of existing power grids. Failures and inefficiencies in energy transmission infrastructure, combined with high costs of last-mile connections to rural communities and other factors, mean that many Africans are moving off-grid – choosing expensive options like fossil fuel powered generators, and in some instances constructing home and mini-grid solar systems in their communities.

IRENA’s Global Renewables Outlook (2020) is therefore an important reminder that while all options are sought for deep and fast GHG emission cuts, advancing renewable energy options is one of the most viable options. In sub-Saharan Africa with the lowest access to electricity in the world (two-thirds of region’s population), this has potential positive spin-off effects in improving lives in key sectors like health, agriculture and employment provision in rural settings.

Globally, advancing renewable-based energy transformation is an opportunity to meet international climate goals as set out in the Paris Agreement (through updating and reviewing NDCs before 2020), and in fulfillment of the UN Global Goals (SDGs)

Are We Serious About Achieving the SDGs? A Statistician’s Perspective | IISD SDG Knowledge Hub

Global SDG monitoring is not yet taken seriously enough by countries, regional and international organizations, and donors. This is one of the main restraints on progress in achieving the SDGs, in addition to institutional, operational, financial and capacity constraints that hamper countries’ ability to report on SDGs. The framework has four times more indicators than we had in the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) era, with many indicators being completely new or produced outside of the national statistical system.

Despite the many real constraints in SDG reporting, countries themselves have been slow in their commitment to measuring SDG indicators. Never mind that the global indicator framework was established by a country-led process – many countries still view it as an imposition by international organizations. In a misuse of the “country ownership” mantra, countries are systematically replacing global SDG indicators with different national proxy indicators, making it impossible to have a common benchmark to assess global progress. National indicators that focus on specific problems faced by each country are essential, but they should complement rather than replace the global indicators (as foreseen in paragraph 75 of the UNGA resolution that endorsed the 2030 Agenda).

Regional organizations too haven’t done enough. A proliferation of regional “SDG indicator” frameworks by Eurostat, CARICOM, the African Union and the Pacific Community, among others, tend to compete with, rather than complement, the global SDG indicator framework. Recent efforts by the African Union to harmonize the different monitoring frameworks are a step in the right direction, although much more must be done. 

 

Read the full article from here

World Environment Day 2019: What Can be Done Differently But Consistently to Beat Air Pollution in Uganda?

The 2019 theme for the World Environment Day: Air Pollution raises the profile of a growing environmental challenge across the globe, irrespective of economic status. According to the UN Environment, “understanding the different types of pollution and how it affects our health and environment will help us take steps towards improving the air around us”. Air pollution sources include households, agriculture, industry, transport and waste.

Among others, air pollution has both direct and indirect impact on poverty efforts (SDG 1), through impeding good health and well-being (SDG 3). For example, health experts reveal that as urban air quality declines, the risk of stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, and chronic and acute respiratory diseases, including asthma, increases for the people, who live in them. This in turn weakens energies towards improved quality of education (SDG 4), enhanced gender equality (SDG 5), having in place decent work and economic growth (SDG 8). As a result, this affects efforts towards reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and having in place sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11). Air pollution also frustrates any lifestyle changes towards responsible production and consumption (SDG 12) for the current and future generations.

At the global level, the UN estimates that around 3.8 million premature deaths are caused by indoor pollution each year, with a vast majority of them in the developing world

In Uganda, air pollution at the household level is also related to waste management, Small and Medium-scale Enterprises - SMEs (including informal set ups like Jua Kali) that employ thousands of people. A 2018 report from Kampala Capital City Authority from a pilot study revealed that Kampala’s air quality index measured at Nsambya (a city suburb) by the air pollution monitor on September 5, 2018 at 10 A.M is six times higher 162(𝜇g/m3) than World Health Organization Air Quality Guidelines 25(𝜇g/m3). The results of this pilot study are indicative of unhealthy air and suggest that exposure to ambient air in Kampala may increase the burden of environmentally induced cardiovascular, metabolic, and respiratory diseases including infections.

In addition to Uganda’s huge reliance on biomass-based fuels (to cook, heat and light homes) that have documented indoor pollution impacts like many other developing countries, households and SMES continue to openly burn unsorted waste comprising plastics, organic waste, electronic waste, expired and remains of drugs, paint, medical waste, broken plastic pipes and other chemicals. This mix releases harmful dioxins, furans, and other gases into the atmosphere.

It is also not abnormal to find agro-related SMEs usually operating in close proximity to heavily inhabited settlements, openly and regularly burning rice husks, tree shavings, cattle horns, maize cobs, among others.

For example, the pungent smell which emerges from many abattoirs close to the Kampala City that openly burn cattle horns (normally done in the late evening) persists throughout the night, creating sleepless nights by choking people (link to asthma and other respiratory illnesses) especially the sick, expectant mothers, children and the elderly residing close to them. This is worsened by the hilly nature of Kampala that allows this polluted air to naturally ‘log’ in from valleys to the top, depending on the wind strength and directions.

In some areas, SMEs that process foodstuffs (like maize, sorghum, soya bean); as well as those that mine sand, clay and stones from small to large scale, the budding fine particles are potential causes of respiratory problems and declining water quality.

Uganda’s mute air pollution challenge is the passive smoking in public places like public service vehicles, busy streets, restaurants and other meeting places. According to Tobacco Control Uganda, 38 Ugandans die from tobacco related diseases every day. While Uganda’s The Tobacco Control Act (2015) stipulates that smoking in public places and 50 meters of it is prohibited, only a few success stories in implementing this. As a result, non-smokers are on the receiving end of this, putting their lives in danger. In the meantime, the WHO (2019) reports that in 2017, tobacco killed 3.3 million users and people exposed to second-hand smoke from lung-related conditions. It adds that more than 60,000 children aged under 5 die of lower respiratory infections caused by second-hand smoke. Those who live on into adulthood are more likely to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) later in life.

What can be done differently but consistently?

1. Public information on the sources and effects of air pollution needs to be increased especially with respect to the effects of open burning of wastes especially plastics; and smoking in public places
2. In addition to existing national laws, local authorities should enact air quality ordinances and bye-laws to address air pollution across the country
3. Instead of the widespread open burning of the waste, Government needs to partner with private sector to provide incentives that can prop up cleaner production approaches for agro-related industries, mining, and waste management
4. More in-depth research should be carried out to identify personal exposure and pollution sources, and to develop air quality management plans and policies to protect public health and safety.
5. Related to the above, there should be targeted support and strengthening of citizen monitoring of air quality so as to exert accountability from local authorities, SMEs and other industrial establishments
6. Incentivize industry from SMEs to large ones to increase energy efficiency and production from renewable energy sources. This largely untapped potential could improve electricity systems and cooking solutions, both on the demand & supply sides. At the same time, this also has a huge leeway to address the increasing air quality challenges

Wetlands and Climate Change in East Africa: Why It Is Time to Integrate Climate Change Actions In All Interventions

Climate change is one of the most pressing problems facing humanity and our planet. The 2019 theme for the World Wetlands Day in 2019: ‘Wetlands and Climate Change’ draws attention to the vital role of wetlands as a natural solution to cope with climate change.

In simple terms, this year’s theme reminds us that wetlands play a critical role in storing carbon and reducing the impact of extreme weather events associated with climate change. Among others, they store floodwater and can protect us from storm surges in this era of unpredictable sporadic rainstorms, while providing water during extended drought periods.

It is therefore important to reflect on the ‘natural solutions’ that wetlands provide in adapting to and mitigating the impact of climate change. Unfortunately, use of East African freshwater wetlands for agriculture has increased in recent decades, raising concerns about potential impacts on wetlands and adjoining ecosystems as well as the long-term sustainability of such land use trends.

For example, the IUCN latest report: Freshwater biodiversity in the Lake Victoria Basin, which assesses the global extinction risk of 651 freshwater species, including fishes, molluscs, dragonflies, crabs, shrimps and aquatic plants native to East Africa’s Lake Victoria Basin found that 20% of these are threatened with extinction. Of the freshwater species assessed, 204 are endemic to the Lake Victoria Basin and three-quarters (76%) of these endemics are at risk of extinction.

Wetlands of Lake Victoria for example, form important habitat for many plant and animal species. However, according to IUCN, Lake Victoria region’s freshwater fishes are highly vulnerable to climate change, having high sensitivity, seemingly poor adaptive capacity (primarily relating to lack of dispersal options) and an expected high exposure to change. Therefore, given the great importance of this group in supporting human livelihoods in East Africa, freshwater fishes should be a priority for monitoring and, as appropriate, conservation action to reduce the negative impacts of climate change.

Of course all illegalities in the remaining wetlands need to be stopped as swiftly as possible, alongside efforts to restore these wetlands. But with the volatile effects of climate change setting in, there is an urgent need for strategic and practical options in support of resilience building of vulnerable communities and natural resources like wetlands in East Africa.

Fortunately, the firmness to roll out the globally applauded Paris Agreement is alive and kicking in East Africa. For example, the East African community has adopted a Roadmap on how to approach implementation of the Paris Agreement that includes concrete steps to be taken by the six Partner States. In addition, the East African Community (EAC) Climate Change Policy is under review, while a proposed EAC Climate Change law is in the offing.

But actions taken are more important than these intentions, given the urgency for East Africa to be part of the collective global fraternity to address the climate change challenge and to secure that livelihoods are not thrown in disarray due to climate change effects. In black and white, the IPCC Special report makes it amazingly clear that 2050 must be the global Co2 emissions phase out year (IPCC SR15 Summary for Policy Makers C.1). To do this, almost all areas of life have to be turned upside down in as far as we relate with wetlands and other natural resources: how we live, eat, move around, and what we consume!

It is in this regard that East African CSOs are raising six issues as part of rolling out the EAC Roadmap to implement the Paris Agreement; review of the EAC Climate Change Policy and in the proposed regional Climate Law.

One of these is an appeal to put in place mechanisms to integrate the climate change actions in all planned region-wide micro – to mega investments, projects and programmes, rather than the climate policy being implemented on its own. In other words, all interventions that might impact on wetlands and other natural resources must be assessed against a climate sensitivity criteria (for example adaptation, resilience building etc.) including regular monitoring of wetland ecosystems’ health. This could also be in the EAC Partner States’ updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Low Emission Development Strategies, as time goes.