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Improved Land Management In The Lake Victoria Basin: Linking Land And Lake, Research And Extension, Catchment And Lake Basin, Keith Shepherd, Markus Walsh, Fridah Mugo, Chin Ong, Tina Svan-Hansen, Brent Swallow, Alex Awiti, Mwangi Hai, David Nyantika, David Ombalo, Martin Grunder, Francis Mbote, David Mungai

East Africa Institute

Lake Victoria is of immense economic and environmental importance in the eastern and central African region. The lake is the largest freshwater body in the tropics and its basin supports one of the densest and poorest rural populations in the world. About 21 million people rely primarily on subsistence agricultural and pastoral production for their livelihoods. But pervasive poverty has hindered sustainable use of the land resources and there has already been considerable land degradation. There is little doubt that sedimentation and nutrient run-off, urban and industrial point source pollution and biomass burning, have induced the rapid eutrophication of Lake …