water and environmental change africa

In this post, I will discuss the transboundary risks that may arise from sharing the same water source. This refers to the challenges and problems that exist when several countries have shares in the e.g. same lake, as is the case with all the lakes I have presented in recent weeks. These conflict risks increase or change due to the influence of climate change on the conditions of the lakes. For this reason, I would like to recapitulate the changing climatic conditions and the impact of water resources. Climate change is mainly characterised by the ever-increasing variability and regional scarcity. The generally weak institutional capacity must also be taken into account. Studies show that water resources (lakes & river basins) react very sensitively to the changing climatic conditions, as I have made clear in recent weeks. There are regional effects and changes. However, the projections for this century tend to predict a decline in water levels. An example is the N...

In this post, I would like to look at the changing socio-economic repercussions. In an article I read, a fisherman complains that his income has fallen by 70 per cent and that he has problems asserting himself in other areas of work. Since he has been in this profession for decades, he has noticed the changes. His way of life has changed a lot due to the decrease in the amount of fish in the lake so that he had to register his children at another school because he could not afford the previous one. Of course, this fisherman is not the only one affected. According to scientists, the reasons for the loss of fish are over-fishing, pollution and other human activities. This also includes anthropogenic climate change. An increasing major challenge is also posed by the growing population of the basin. According to the article, it’s Africa’s fastest-growing population with over 30 million people, whose livelihood is depending on the lake.  Fishing boats (Uganda) I would n...

I'd like to add another lake to my little collection today, it's Lake Victoria.  The quite famous lake is the second-largest freshwater lake in the world. The lake stretches over three countries: Tanzania (occupying 49 %, Kenya (6%) and Uganda (45%) ( Yunana et al., 2017 ). Lake Victoria is “the largest Lake in Africa with the surface are of 68,800 km² and a catchment area of 193,000 km²” (Yunana et al., p. 651, 2017). The water supply is guaranteed by the rivers Mara, Kagera, Mirongo, Grumeti, Mbalageti, Simiyu, and Mori. Furthermore, Lake Victoria has a length from north to south of 412 km, between latitudes 13°0’ N 14°0E. The length from west to east is about 355 km between longitudes 31°37’ and 34°53’ E. The physical conditions around the lake can be described as “arid or semiarid with a relatively high mean annual rainfall of 1200 mm – 1600 mm” (Yunana et al., p.651, 2017).  Geographical location of Lake Victoria Here, too, most of the population works in the pri...