Financing Mechanisms for Lake Victoria Fisheries Management

Abstract

Management of fisheries in the Lake Victoria Basin is faced with a multitude of natural and anthropogenic pressures such as over-fishing, eutrophication , declining water levels, soil erosion , sedimentation , water hyacinth infestation and encroachment into fish breeding and spawning areas. The idea of establishing a trust fund, which would contribute to the sustainable management of the lake fisheries and conservation of the lake’s ecosystem, was first conceived during Phase I of the Lake Victoria Environmental Management Project (LVEMP I). This occurred by commissioning a consultancy to study the feasibility of establishing a Fish Levy Trust Fund . The Fund was intended to improve the livelihoods of fishing communities and sustainable management of the fisheries resources through enhanced revenue collection and disposal for essential monitoring , management and effective enforcement. Through a lengthy process of consultations and stakeholder engagement during Phase I (1997–2005) and Phase II (2009–2017) of LVEMP, the Lake Victoria Fisheries Trust Fund (LVFTF ) was finally established in 2016 as a way of developing a sustainable funding mechanism to conserve biological diversity and ensure socio-economic welfare of communities that depend on the lake for their livelihood . This chapter therefore presents the chronology of events that led to the establishment of LVFTF, and describes the rationale, organizational structure and functions of the Fund.