Abstract:
In spite of the general acceptance that the current
land use changes are unlikely to yield a sustainable
environment, the source of sediment that causes
eutrophication in Lake Victoria is not clearly
understood. It is hypothesized that roads, footpaths,
and compounds (settlement) are a major source of
sediments. This study was conducted on the northern
Lake Victoria shoreline to determine the rate of
sediment generated by agricultural and settlement
land use types. Results show that settlements generate
significantly higher sediment yields i.e. between 17-
87 ton.ha-1. yr -1 whereas agricultural land use types
produced between 0-27 ton ha-1.yr-1. The high sediment
yield from settlements is attributed to high runoff
coefficients and the occurrence of gully erosion. The
high sediment yield from settlements justifies the need
to conduct further investigations on the contribution
of settlements to sediment production in catchments
with different soil - landscape and climatic setting in
the Lake Victoria catchment.
