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Food Security
There are various efforts aimed at improving household
food security in the Basin, including the Sustainable
Land Management (SLM) strategy, and the Mount
Elgon Conservation Programme. The LVBC developed
the SLM Strategy and Guidelines, with the primary
aim of improving both food security and household
incomes within the Basin. The SLM strategy and its
guidelines have been implemented in all five partner
states through the second phase of the Lake Victoria
Basin Environmental Management Programme. The
LVBC has also partnered with VI-Agroforestry Project,
which aims at improving farming and cropping systems
at the household level.
The LVBC has been instrumental in implementing
the Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation
Programme with a view to providing a more secure
and productive ecosystem by promoting effective
transboundary natural resource management (between
Kenya and Uganda) and participatory benefit sharing.
The Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation
Programme aims to ensure the sustainable use of shared
natural resources, benefiting livelihoods while mitigating
against, and adapting to anticipated climate change
impacts in the Mount Elgon transboundary ecosystem.
The second phase of the programme addresses the
challenges of decreasing land productivity, increasing
food insecurity and declining household incomes, while
ensuring compliance with conservation measures in
the protected areas of the Mount Elgon landscape. The
‘landscape approach’ – using private sector involvement
and climate smart agriculture – is adopted to achieve the
three main objectives: conservation, food security and
improved household incomes.
Investment and Infrastructure
Development
The LVBC has initiated some projects which address
investment, financing and infrastructure in the areas
of maritime safety, transport corridors, water and
sanitation, and energy. The second phase of the Lake
Victoria Basin Environmental Management Programme,
the Mount Elgon Regional Ecosystem Conservation
Programme and the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation
(LVWTSAN) Programme, are some of the programmes
through which the Lake Basin seeks to deliver on its
infrastructure needs. The infrastructure development
programmes complement those of the East Africa
Community, whose main focus is on the improvement
of roads and railways, ports, power pools and fuel
pipelines, and other infrastructure services.
Opportunities
Woman tending to tomatoes in Kapseror Village, Kapchorwa, Uganda.