Mushroom growing as a livelihood option to fishing among Lake Edward fisher communities

Abstract

Fisheries activities are the main source of livelihood for the communities that live at Lake Edward fish landing sites. The landing sites include: Kazinga, Katwe, Kayanja, Kishenyi Rwenshama and Katunguru and are located within Queen Elizabeth Conservation Area (QECA).In spite of being the main source of livelihood, 74% of therespondents in a 2013 survey reported that catches forthe main targeted fish species namely: Bagrus docmak(Semutundu), Oreochromis niloticus (Tilapia) and Protopterusaethiopicus (Mamba) were declining due to overfishingand catching of immature fish by the rapidly increasingpopulation. Lake Edward Frame surveys had shown that thenumber of fishing crafts increased from 302 in 2008 to 330 in 2011, while the number of fishers increased from 355 to 600 during the same period. Between 2008 and 2010, catch perboat, for Bagrus docmak (Semutundu) declined from 5.25kg to 4.04 kg and for Protopterus aethiopicus (Mamba) from2.63 kg to 1.03kg.It has been suggested that reducing pressure on the lakeshould be handled using different approaches, one of whichis introduction of programs for enhancing livelihood optionswhich do not conflict with conservation of Queen ElizabethConservation Area (QECA). The main goal of this study wastherefore to identify, prioritize and pilot livelihood options at selected landing sites of Lakes Edward and George.