Sediment production from settlements and farmlands within Lake Victoria shoreline zone in Uganda and Tanzania

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.