Title: Sustaining Food Security in the Lake Victoria Basin through Indigenous Coping Mechanisms to Water Resources Variations

Author: Donald Anthony Mwiturubani

Organisation: Institute for Security Studies (ISS), Nairobi Office

Postal Address: 6th Floor, Landmark Plaza, Argwing Kodhek Road, P. O. Box 12869, GPO 00100, Nairobi, Kenya

E-mail Address: amwiturubani@issafrica.org or mwiturubani@yahoo.com

Telephone:+254 20 300 5726/28 (office), +255 784 36 31 17

Abstract: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) analysis of impacts of climate change suggest that in the Sub-Saharan Africa, where majority of the population depend on rain-fed agriculture, their economic activities are likely to be more vulnerable to climate change. This is because the coping mechanisms of the peasant communities in the rural areas are limited due to lack of appropriate technology. A survey of households and in-depth interviews of key informants in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB), however, illustrates that local people in the LVB have been developing different strategies to dealing with rainfall and water resources variations. And that the strategies developed are in most cases adaptive to the changing ecological conditions and are effective and useful in responding to rainfall and water resources variations hence necessitate the design of water use systems for sustainable livelihoods. Agricultural activities are practised based on indigenous knowledge – informed by tools and indicators developed over time and space – to understand the onset and end of rainfall, the main source of water resources in the region. The tools and indicators on understanding rainfall and water resources variations are mainly based on the observations of the changing characteristics of the surrounding environment both on the atmosphere (wind systems, stars), on the land surface (flora and fauna) and other natural systems, such as natural springs. These findings form the basis for concrete recommendations to the governments in the region to formulate policies and enact laws to backup indigenous based technologies for sustainable development. The merging of indigenous and modern-day knowledge systems is also recommended.