AFRICANEWS
KENYAHyacinth in Lake Victoriaby a correspondent
When fishermen at Kobala beach on the Kenyan portion of Lake Victoria noticed a purple plant with spreading tentacles appearing in the lake in early 90s, nobody was alarmed. Enchanted by its sceanic beauty and purple flowers, women plucked it and took the plants home to decorate their houses. However, it was not long before this love affair turned sour when the attractive and seemingly beautiful harmless plant turned out to be a rapid spreading ecological monster, threatening to decimate their very means of survival. Indeed, within a short time, water hyacinth was wreaking havoc in the world's second largest lake with its green luxuriant mass of vegetation blocking all beach fronts, in the process hampering all fish related activities, the main source of livelihood in the western part of Kenya. In some beach fronts, the weed had spread to a distance of up to 15 kilometres and nearly 300,000 direct dependants are in danger of losing their major source of living. Lake victoria covers 69,000 square kilometres and borders three East African countries, namely, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. This weed has not spared the two other countries and it is estimated that upto 30 million people depend on the lake. As of now, the world is watching helplessly as Winam Gulf, steadily turns into a solid mass of green vegetation. "The lake is no longer our source of livelihood as it has been for centuries but a cause of people's suffering and extreme disenchantment", laments a youth leader at Rachuonyo district. For communities living in Kobala sub-location of the most affected Rachuonyo district, areas such as Alara, Chuowe and Rakwaro beaches and the larger Wang'Chieng location, the struggle is no longer just how to look for fishing spots but how to remove the weed to get access to water for domestic use. Going by various names, among the communities such as 'Ford' (after an opposition political party), the water hyacinth has now acquired a new name, 'ayaki', this is the Luo word for Aids (Acquired immune deficiency syndrome). Luos are also the most predominant tribe in this region.
Killing the Lake"This thing is killing the lake just the way aids is killing people", quips Mr Samwel Odongo, a fisherman at Alara beach in Kendu division. Another elderly villager adds, "It was called 'Ford' after the popular political party in this area, we did not know it was a devil".Currently, fishing boats cannot penetrate the dense mass of thick water hyacinth that is creeping further into the lake, canoes cannot dock and those who attempt get stuck at landing points. Those who dare go fishing take up to five days struggling to break through the weed and return to shore. Penetrating the weed takes time and energy leaving the fishermen exhausted. Mr Cosmas Owino, a professional fisherman laments, "we are desperate, you cannot even see the open lake; the people who see this thing in newspapers and television sets think it is a small issue but no boat can pass through this mass, we are starving yet somehow we have to feed." Dr James Ogari, an assistant director of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KEMFRI) recently sounded alarm bells by warning that fish catches in the lake had reduced by 40,000 tonnes in the last 50 years with a recorded catch of 170,000 tonnes compared to 210,000 last year, a factor he attributed to infestation by the water hyacinth among other reasons. He said a number of fish processing plants along the lake had equally been rendered redundant as a result of migration from water hyacinth - infested beaches to other parts of the lake causing conflicts between hosts and new arrivals. In Alara and Rakwaro beaches, the weed has already engulfed entire beaches thus forcing hundreds of boatmen to move their vessels to Dunga beach in Kisumu town, Karabondi and Kendu Bay in South Nyanza where invasion is still minimal. As scientists from various quarters continue to debate on this seemingly unknown weed, what has surfaced through is that the formerly easy-to-get protein rich staple food is now not only scarce but expensive and beyond locals purchasing power. In market stalls, prices of fish has skyrocketed with Tilapia which used to cost Kshs10 now going for Kshs55. Mudfish now costs Kshs400 instead of Kshs100. The soil and climate in this area around the lake are not suitable for farming and few stalks of millet and cassava trees are on small shambas (gardens). Some of the usually busy fish landing bays are deserted. These include Osodo in Kano, Nyalenda in Kisumu, Amana in west Karachuonyo, Kendu bay, Seka, Karabondi and Kajieyi, Rakwaro and Kobala in Rachuonyo district. Most eating places along these beaches are closed and markets abandoned. Some young people can be seen loitering idly and residents complain they have started stealing and committing petty crimes. A frail elderly woman, Mama Jeda Oloo, a resident of Kobala beach shudders at the bleak future facing the lake. "In my whole life, I have never witnessed a disaster of this magnitude. It is like a plague, look at my grand children", she says pointing at three malnourished children hurddled next to her, "don't they look underfed", she poses adding that they have spent sleepless nights as a result of recurrent malaria bouts caused by the new breed of mosquitoes breeding in the weeds.
Shortfall in incomeThe old woman regrets that while the family has all along depended on the fish industry as a major source of income since time immemorial, the weed blockade made it impossible for their hardworking sons, normally family breadwinners, to work, thus causing great shortfall in their income. She adds "we can no longer take our children to school, leave alone providing them with a wholesome meal."The resident's woes include emergence of lethal green snakes and oisonous insects that find a haven in the weed. In the recent past, the Kenya government, through Nyanza Provincial Commissioner, Joseph Kaguthi set up concerted efforts to raise awareness about the weed. PC Kaguthi has intensified campaigns among local residents urging them to organise themselves in groups and uproot the weed manually as research was still being conducted on its eradication. But in some areas, residents are unhappy with the idea. They believe that the use of chemicals to kill the weed will work faster."The enormity of the weed on some beaches is such that it will be an exercise of futility if manual removal is resorted to, the carpet like mass is vast", says a resident Mr John Opar who points out that the rate at which the weed has been spreading, it doubles after every 15 days. At a recent workshop on the fate of the lake, drawing over 300 researchers, academicians, journalists, government officials and politicians, the use of chemicals in the fight against the weed was ruled out with participants urging that such an intervention could adversely affect the lake. Mr Kaguthi, who chaired the workshop said use of chemicals may result in drastic drop in the demand of Lake Victoria's fish in the international market.
Biological ControlExperts at the workshop suggested biological control of the weed saying biological intervention was safe and permanent. They suggested introduction of a special beetle to destroy the weed, a process which takes between 3 to 5 years.Kenya Agricultural Research Institute assistant Director Dr D. M. Mailu, while presenting a paper entitled "Lake Victoria as a lifeline, yesterday, today and tomorrow", said fishermen should be encouraged to manually remove the weed as they wait for introduction of biological agents in the lake. He attributed the slow rearing of anti-hyacinth beetles at Muguga research station to insufficient funding adding that the 25 million US dollars to be given by the World Bank for Lake Victoria's environmental management programme budget for five years was inadequate as it is also shared among three East African countries. He regreted that the project has been underfunded thus leading to constraints in the production of beetles at the bio-control unit in the Muguga station. He told the participants that the mass rearing unit at Muguga station with a production capacity of 500-1000 beetles per day will have to be significantly improved to produce beetles for release into the lake and supply Kibos research sub-centre with breeding stocks. "Outlying mass rearing units would be established at selected sites", he said adding that the institution was also considering the possibility of importing large numbers of beetles (25,000) to (50,000) for direct emergency release into highly infested areas of the lake. He said scientists were also collaborating with the Kenya Research Development Institute to look into possibilities of designing and fabricating a machine for use in physical removal of the weed.
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