Lake Victoria – The Milli Chronicle

Breaking the Lake’s Old Rules: Kenyan Women Enter Fishing as Climate Pressure Reshapes Tradition

NewsDesk MC — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 01:24:03 +0000

“When survival becomes urgent, even the oldest taboos begin to lose their power.”

For decades, women in fishing communities along Lake Victoria were expected to stay on shore, selling fish rather than catching them. In Kagwel village in Kenya’s Kisumu County, stepping into a fishing boat was seen not only as unusual but as a violation of deeply rooted social beliefs.

That changed in 2002 when Rhoda Ongoche Akech, then a 39-year-old mother of seven, decided to enter the lake herself.At the time, Akech had spent years working as a fishmonger, buying fish from male fishermen and reselling them in local markets.

But rising costs for fish purchases, cooking oil, firewood and transport were reducing her earnings and making it harder to support her family.“People were alleging that when women go into the waters accompanied by men, they would engage in sexual intercourse,” Akech, now 61. She said community members initially treated her decision with suspicion, but after realising she was determined to learn fishing rather than challenge morality, opposition gradually faded.

Her decision followed an encounter in 2001 when women from neighbouring Homabay County came to Kagwel and began fishing. Watching them convinced her that the work was possible despite local resistance.“I sought the help of two young men by then to assist me with fishing as I learned,” she said.The cultural restrictions around women fishing in Lake Victoria communities are rooted in longstanding beliefs tied to gender and ritual purity.

According to Kagwel village elder William Okedo, one of the strongest taboos concerned menstruation.“It was believed that if women went into the lake while on period, they would scare away the fish and that would cause losses to people who are fishing,” Okedo said.The restrictions extended to men as well. Fishermen were traditionally discouraged from having sexual relations with their wives the night before fishing trips, based on beliefs that it would reduce their catch.

For 16 years, Akech remained the only woman fishing regularly in Kagwel, working alone among male crews.It was not until 2018 that another woman joined her. Faith Awuor Ang’awo, a 37-year-old mother of four, had also been working as a fishmonger and was facing similar financial strain.“My husband refused the idea at first,” Ang’awo said, citing fears of social backlash from the fishing community.

“But later on allowed me to join Rhoda.”In 2020, Dorcas Awiyo, then a 22-year-old mother of three, followed. Her husband, himself a fisherman, initially opposed the decision but later agreed after the family’s need for additional income became more urgent.“At first, my husband was not receptive to the idea, but later on allowed me,” she said.By 2022, when Janet Ndweyi joined the group, resistance had largely disappeared.

“I didn’t face any challenge or receive any warning when joining them because the community around was used to seeing Rhoda and Faith fishing,” Ndweyi said.Without a husband to support her and with fish trading becoming less profitable, fishing offered her a more stable income. She now uses her earnings to pay college fees for both of her children.

“Through fishing, I am able to cater for my household’s basic needs and also pay for children’s school fees that are in college,” she said.Economic necessity has been the strongest force behind the social shift.According to Wilson Onjolo, fisheries officer for Seme subcounty, boat owners at Kagwel Beach can earn between 6,000 and 8,000 Kenyan shillings ($46 to $62) on productive days. Crew members earn between 500 and 800 shillings ($3.88 to $6.20), while traders such as fishmongers may earn up to 1,000 shillings ($7.75).

That compares favourably with the roughly 500 shillings women like Akech earned daily when they relied solely on fish trading.Village elder Okedo said the economic pressure facing households has made communities more willing to reconsider long-held norms.“This is all because of economic hardships that the community is facing; it is pushing women to break the taboo,” he said.

Fisherman Dalmas Onyango said most male fishermen now support women entering the trade.“The majority of my fellow fishermen now support their decision to fish,” he said, adding that changing economic realities have made old restrictions less practical.At the same time, the lake itself is becoming less reliable.

Lake Victoria, which supports more than 42 million people for food, employment and drinking water, is under increasing pressure from overfishing, pollution, invasive species and climate change. Annual harvests remain around one million tonnes, but per capita catch rates have declined significantly.Akech said she has seen the change directly over the past two decades.

The amount of fish she catches today is noticeably lower than when she first entered the lake in 2002.Chris Mutai, senior meteorologist in charge of the Kisumu meteorological station, said rising water temperatures are contributing to the decline by encouraging algae growth and reducing oxygen levels in the lake.

“To reverse this, people should keep off riparian land to allow undergrowth that will serve as the breeding ground of fish, and avoid pollution of the lake that traps more heat than plain, clear water,” Mutai said.He warned that temperatures could rise by another 0.5 degrees Celsius over the next 10 to 20 years, reaching between 29.5C and 31C.

Without stronger environmental controls, including protection of riparian zones and regulated fishing, fish stocks are expected to continue falling.Weather forecasting has become increasingly important for fishing communities. Mutai’s office distributes five-day forecasts through WhatsApp groups and local government channels, helping fishermen and fisherwomen prepare for dangerous lake conditions.

Despite their success, Akech and her team still operate in a legal grey area.Susan Claire, acting director of fisheries and blue economy for Kisumu County, said women officially participate as boat owners and fish traders, but not as night fishermen or crew members.“We have women who own boats and women traders, but they are not involved in night fishing or as boat crew members,” Claire told Al Jazeera.

That leaves women like Akech without formal recognition or equal access to support available to male fishermen.However, Christopher Aura of the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute said in 2023 that Lake Victoria had more than 47,000 fishermen, including 1,000 women, suggesting official county records may not fully reflect women’s participation.

Claire acknowledged that declining fish stocks remain a major concern and said the county is working with meteorological services and Beach Management Units to improve awareness, climate adaptation and enforcement against illegal fishing.For Akech, the debate is less about recognition than survival.She continues to leave before dawn with the same determination that first took her to the water more than two decades ago.

Some days the catch is poor, and the income barely covers the effort. On better days, it is enough to keep going.The lake has changed, but so has the community around it.

Crisis on the Nile: Global warming and overuse threaten Africa’s longest river

Millichronicle — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 19:28:24 +0000

AFP

In the 10 countries that the Nile runs through, the river is not just a source of water, but also of energy

Running from Uganda to Egypt, the Nile is essential to the survival of millions of people living in Africa. But a combination of climate change and human overuse is drying up the river, and worsening conditions for farmers who fear low harvests and loss of electricity.

At more than 6,600 kilometres long, the Nile basin extends to 11 countries, including Tanzania, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, South Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt – where hundreds of heads of state gathered to attend the COP27 climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh starting on Sunday.

But global warming and overuse by humans is putting the world’s second-longest river under strain. In the past 50 years, the flow of the Nile has fallen from 3,000 cubic metres per second to 2,830. A lack of rainfall and increased droughts expected in East Africa means river flow could fall by 70 percent by 2100, according to UN forecasts.

The world body has predicted a loss of 75 percent of available water per local inhabitant. Related land erosion, crop loss and lack of electricity are also likely to have a dramatic impact on the millions of people living in Africa who rely on the river for survival.

‘Those with the least water will have even less tomorrow’

At the southern end of the Nile, the impact of climate change is being felt keenly in Africa’s largest lake. Located between Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, Lake Victoria is the largest supplier of water to the Nile, with the exception of rainfall. Yet evaporation, lack of precipitation and changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis mean the lake is now at risk of disappearing.

One 2020 study analysed historical and geological data from the past 100,000 years and found that the entire body of water could disappear in the next 500 years. This would have a striking impact on the Nile, a river whose basin covers 10 percent of the African continent and which is an essential resource for 500 million people living in its vicinity.

“Those who have the least water today will have even less tomorrow because competition for water will be even more fierce,” says Habib Ayeb, geologist and emeritus professor at the Paris-8-Saint-Denis University.

In countries such as Egypt and Ethiopia, lack of access to water among people living along the Nile is already an issue due to politics rather than climate change, says Ayeb. Priority of access is currently given to large-scale agricultural businesses as opposed to local inhabitants. “There is a lot of competition for water intensified by agribusinesses that grow produce for export. Policies that aim to export water from the Nile in the form of tomatoes or cucumbers do not take into account the [local] populations that need this water,” Ayeb adds.

Climate change threatens to worsen the situation for millions of people. “Lower water levels due to global warming will impact those who are already the most in need,” Ayeb says.

‘Invaded’ by saltwater

At the northern end of the great river, another effect of climate change is being felt in the Nile Delta – the sediment-rich landform where the river meets the Mediterranean Sea. This area is one of the three locations in the world most vulnerable to global warming, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, as the weakened flow of the river struggles to push back the sea’s rising water levels.

Every year since 1960 the Mediterranean has worn away between 35 and 75 metres of earth in the Nile Delta. If it were to rise by one metre it would submerge 34 percent of the surrounding region in northern Egypt, displacing 9 million people.

Dwindling river reserves are worsening the problem. “The less water there is in the Nile valley, the more the Nile Delta will be invaded by water from the Mediterranean,” Ayeb says. This does not just bring the risk of ground erosion and flooding, but also changes the composition of the river. “The layer of groundwater beneath the river delta is increasingly made up of saltwater from the Mediterranean as less and less freshwater is arriving,” Ayeb adds.

Along the northern banks of the river the water is becoming more saline. “Very little drainage water (freshwater from the river) is making it to the Mediterranean; less than 1 billion cubic metres of water, which is ridiculous compared to what there was 40 or 50 years ago,” says Ayeb.

Already, salt from the Mediterranean has polluted hectares of land, weakening and killing plants. Farmers have reported a reduction in the quality of vegetables.

The situation is likely to get worse – if temperatures continue to increase, the Mediterranean will advance 100 metres into the Nile Delta each year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Over time it estimates the Mediterranean could swallow 100,000 hectares of agricultural land situated at less than 10 metres below sea level. This would be catastrophic for Egypt, where the north of the country accounts for 30 to 40 percent of national agricultural production

To compensate, some are trying to restore the balance of freshwater in their fields using measures that are worsening the overall problem, such as pumping water from further down the Nile and constructing dams.

The cost of hydroelectricity

In the 10 countries that the Nile runs through, the river is not just a source of water, but also of energy. Sudan generates more than half of its electricity resources from hydropower. In Uganda, the figure rises to 80 percent.

But this energy source is becoming increasingly unreliable. In Uganda electricity cuts are already a frequent occurrence, says Twinomuhangi Revocatus, senior lecturer at Makerere University’s college of agricultural and environmental sciences. “If rainfall goes down, water levels in Lake Victoria and the Nile will go down as well, which will reduce hydroelectric production,” he says.

In Ethiopia, despite rapid economic growth, lack of access to electricity is a daily reality for half of the country’s 110 million inhabitants. The country’s leadership is banking on a large-scale dam to fix this, even if it means depriving neighbouring countries of electricity.

Construction on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) began in 2011 on the Blue Nile – one of the river’s two major tributaries – with the aim of creating 13 turbines capable of producing 5,000 megawatts of electricity per year. Since August, 22 billion cubic metres of water have been stored in the dam’s reservoir, which has a total capacity of 74 billion cubic metres.

This makes the structure the largest hydroelectric dam in Africa. Yet it is also a source of tension with Egypt that calls into question an agreement made in 1959 between Egypt and Sudan to share river flows, with 66 percent going to Egypt and 22 percent to Sudan.

Egyptian leaders fear a drastic reduction in the flow of the Nile if the GERD fills too quickly. Scientists are also taking sides, with some accused of exaggerating water loss in Egypt in order to justify a potential intervention on Ethiopian soil and others accused of minimising the issue and “betraying” their country.

In Egypt, farmers have already seen the effects of the Aswan Dam – one of the world’s largest embankment dams. As with dams in Ethiopia, Uganda and Sudan, it has reduced levels of silt – a precious natural fertiliser – in the water.

In Sudan, such changes – along with lack of rainwater storage and recycling facilities – are posing a huge challenge for farmers and exacerbating a crisis that has left one out of four people facing severe hunger.

Like other countries along the Nile, Sudan is near the bottom of Notre Dame University’s GAIN rankings, which measure resilience to climate change.

For Callist Tindimugaya, of Uganda’s ministry of water and the environment, rising temperatures will impact not just the country’s ability to feed its people but to generate electricity to power homes and industry.

“Short heavy rains can cause flooding. Long dry periods will bring loss of water,” he said. “And you cannot survive without water.”

This article was translated from the original in French.