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As early as the thirteenth and fourteenth century, Lake
Victoria was surrounded by organized and settled
communities, with strong trade and cultural ties (UNEP
2006). The arrival of foreign settlers in the eighteenth
century further strengthened the trade links. The earlier
barter trading system became more developed as
canoes and dhows began transporting goods around the
Lake. Market centres developed and later small towns
grew around the Lake ports. This was the origin of some
of the Basin’s major towns, including Entebbe and Jinja
in Uganda; Kisumu and Homabay in Kenya; and Mwanza,
Musoma and Bukoba in Tanzania (UNEP 2006).
More recently, many of these towns have seen a
dramatic increase in population. Figure 3.2 shows
population growth trends of some of the major urban
settlements within and near the Lake Victoria Basin.
The population of the major urban settlements within
the Lake Victoria Basin range from 0.2 to 2 million (World
Bank 2016). A study conducted by the Lake Victoria
Environment Management Project (LVEMP) indicates
that there are 87 large towns in LVB, of which 51 are in
Kenya, 30 in Tanzania and 6 in Uganda (Lake Victoria
Basin Commission 2007). Urbanization in the LVB has
led to a proliferation of informal ‘squatter’ settlements
in some major towns. These settlements lack proper
waste disposal and sanitary facilities. Less than 30 per
cent of households in these towns are connected to a
sewer system. Sewage treatment facilities in all the major
towns are generally in poor condition. Raw sewage is
discharged into small rivers and streams or directly into
Lake Victoria, contributing significantly to water pollution
and eutrophication, further exacerbating the water
hyacinth threat (Lake Victoria Basin Commission 2007).
Urbanization
Kigali is one of the fast growing cities in East Africa
Informal settlements are a result of rapid urbanization