189 LAND USE CHANGES, IMPACTS AND OPTIONS FOR SUSTAINING PRODUCTIVITY AND LIVELIHOODS IN THE BASIN OF LAKE VICTORIA Joseph. M. Maitima, J.M Olson, S. M. Mugatha, S. Mugisha and I. T. Mutie ABSTRACT. Land-use change is one of the main drivers of environmental change. It influences the basic resources of land, including the soil. Its impact on soil often occurs so creepingly that land managers hardly contemplate initiating ameliorative or counterbalance measures. Poor land management has degraded vast amounts of land, reduced our ability to produce enough food, and is a major threat to rural livelihoods in many developing countries. Land use in the basin of lake Victoria like other parts of east Africa is changing fast. While some areas are undergoing expansion of cultivation and grazing, others are intensifying. Common to all is that there are impacts on sustainability of the natural systems on which productivity depends. The nature of landscapes and the geomorphologic processes in the lake basin make land use change highly sensitive to erosion and degradation. There is an urgent need for a regional framework and guidelines for sustainable land management including all sectors of land use like cropping, grazing and urbanization. This paper highlights some of the changes in land use in the lake basin, presents the implications of these changes on productivity and gives some investment options for developing sustainable land use. Key words: Land use / cover change, sustainable development, Lake Victoria basin, land management, land degradation. INTRODUCTION The basin of lake Victoria (Fig.1) is endowed with abundant natural resources, which provide livelihoods for rural people in three countries (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania), and contribute significantly to the respective national economies either through direct sales of its resources like fish or by playing a role in food security. In addition to fish, the lake basin plays a big role in agricultural production through cultivation of various subsistence and cash crops. The area is a drainage basin for a big part of east Africa, ranging from Mt. Elgon at the border of Kenya with Uganda, to the Mau summit, and the Ruwenzori ranges in south west Uganda. Lake Victoria is the head waters of river Nile that is a long ribbon of life for many millions of people in Sudan and Egypt. Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa (Volume 12, No.3, 2010) ISSN: 1520-5509 Clarion University of Pennsylvania, Clarion, Pennsylvania