Background
Greenhouse gases mainly carbon dioxide, methane gas and oxides of nitrogen emmited from combustion processes have accumulated in the atmosphere trapping heat and changing the Earth’s climate. Efforts are being made to reduce the emmissions but even if this was stopped it would take long to have an effect. Climate change is an environmental, social and economic challenge contributing to poverty, water and food insecurity, sanitation, health and infrastructural problems. About 30% of Ugandans are poor and food insecure and 70% of them derive their livelihoods from crops, forestry, livestock and fisheries which are sensitive to climate change.
About 20% of Uganda is covered by lakes, rivers and wetlands which are important sources of fish, income, export earnings, water for agriculture, domestic and industrial use, navigation, biodiversity conservation and modulation of local climate. Freshwater systems and aquatic organisms are highly vulnerable to climate variability and change depending on their size, depth and trophic status. There is need to understand how climate change affects aquatic ecosystems, resources, and livelihoods to facilitate development of adaptation and coping strategies especially for the vulnerable.
Impacts and manifestation of climate change
Climate variability and change is manifested through increases in temperature, fluctuations in precipitation, and other weather factors. Rising temperatures increase evaporation, wind and storm intensities and affect water circulation, cause stratification which affects circulation of nutrients, productivity of phytoplankton and invertebrates, and disrupts food-webs. It alters physiology, composition, diversity, distribution, abundance, community structure, timing and regime shift of fishes and fisheries. It reduces oxygen circulation which enhances anoxia. It increases evaporation and enhances drought, alters water levels, affects navigation facilities and can cause desiccation of an aquatic system. Fluctuations in precipitation affect water availability, water quantity, quality, water-table, infrastructure, navigation facilities, and may flood riparian zones and affect ecosystems and their productivity and displace communities. Shallow aquatic systems are affected mainly through flooding and desiccation while in deep ones effects on water circulation is important. There is need to understand how these impacts affect ecosystems, resources of specific aquatic systems and people depending upon them.
Interaction with non-climatic factors
Climate parameters do not operate in isolation but interact with non-climatic factors including: over-exploitation; non-native species introductions; nutrient enrichment; pollutants and contaminants; water flow obstructions for dams; habitat change and land use patterns; poverty; market and population factors and poor natural resources management to affect resources and livelihoods. These should be considered when addressing climate issues.
Adaptation and coping strategies
Adaptations are required to respond to opportunities and threats to resources and livelihoods due to climate variability and change. Small-scale fishers and riparian communities have responded by adjusting and taking on other livelihood occupations such as: diversifying to crops, livestock, forestry and other income generating activities; changing and diversifying fisheries operations; migrating to less affected areas; or resorting to social capital and community support. There is need to collectively identify, agree and prioritize the most appropriate locally available and affordable strategies, improve on them and provide early warning systems to increase resilience and sustain livelihoods.
Policies, legislation and governance
Changes due to climate variability and change introduce uncertainties that require flexibility in policy, legislation and governance systems. Development of policies, regulations and governance systems that are dynamic and provide for changes in ecosystems, fisheries and livelihoods, agreed adaptation and coping strategies are a pre-requisite to strengthening the abilities of communities to exploit available resources to sustain their livelihoods.
Increasing awareness
Climate variability and change is a major global problem but is little understood and appreciated by different stakeholders. There is need for concerted efforts by scientists, policy makers and communities for information to increase awareness to guide adaptation and coping strategies.
Capacity building
Climate variability and change has not been part of many research and educational programs or curricula. The capacity to address climate change in many sectors is therefore weak and fisheries are no exception. There is need for targeted efforts to build capacity in research, academic, policy and community institutions to generate and share information with other climate change centers of excellence, incorporate climate change science into fisheries training curricula, prepare training materials, and conduct training.
Action plan
National Fisheries Resources Research Institute (NaFIRRI) of NARO with support from The Rockefeller Foundation is addressing the above issues using case studies of two small shallow lakes which have manifested vulnerability to climate variability and change - Wamala in the Victoria basin, and Kawi in the Kyoga basin.
Rice,maize and potato gardens along riparian papyrus fringes on Lake Kawi and Wamala
This will be extended to deeper lakes especially Victoria and Albert which have experienced changes in lake levels due to extreme climate events and where climate variability and change is expected to affect mixing and lake productivity processes including contributing to shifts in fish communities. The project aims to improve understanding of impacts of climate variability and change on riparian ecosystems, resources and livelihoods, develop adaptation and coping strategies, to increase resilience, and develop a procedure that can be used on other African Great Lake’s and the Nile basin regions to assess impacts of climate variability and change on aquatic ecosystem, resources and livelihoods.
The project
The project is collecting information and data on: climate parameters; riparian ecosystems, physico-chemical parameters, lake productivity processes, composition, relative abundance and life history of fishes and fisheries; Examining interactions between climate and non-climate factors; Conducting socio-economics, livelihoods and vulnerability analyses; Developing, prioritizing, agreeing upon and testing adaptation and coping strategies in collaboration with small-scale fishers and riparian communities and identifying government and non-government mechanisms through which agreed adaptation and coping strategies can be promoted; Examining and proposing changes to policies, regulations and governance systems to accommodate agreed adaptation and coping strategies; Increasing awareness through publications, talks, messaging, and workshops; and Introducing the knowledge generated in training programs in academic institutions and supporting training.
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