SPECIAL PROJECTS
Between the Dam and the Sea
In September, Ethiopia completed the fourth and final filling of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), now the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa. How is this mega project expected to impact its neighbor Sudan?
By Arthur Larie and Bastien and Massa
“The Nile River remains the most important source for water security in Sudan that provides water for municipal, agriculture and industrial sectors as well as for groundwater recharge. The high dependency on the Nile, as a transboundary river, put Sudan’s WEF [water-energy-food] security on a high risk of external changes upstream like the construction of the GERD,” researcher Mugahid Elnour concluded.
Partly due to its location in between Ethiopia and Egypt, Sudan was initially said to be negatively impacted by the GERD, as any downstream country could be impacted by such massive infrastructure on the river.
But the first studies started to show how the in-between country could actually benefit from the GERD. It was the promise of flood mitigation, electricity production and a constant water flow all over the year. Yet, few people have questioned the veracity of allegations about the GERD’s positive or negative impacts.
Over two years, journalists Arthur Larie and Bastien Massa met with researchers, economists, environmentalists, officials and local populations trying to draw a clear picture of what is at stake and how Sudan will really benefit or suffer from the dam. This multimedia story, supported with funds from JRS Biodiversity Foundation, details some of the expected impacts – including on energy, agriculture, the floodplains farmers, brickmakers, and the environment.
Africa’s Melting Snows
Climate change impacts culture, livelihoods and health in western Uganda as the Mountains of the Moon glaciers disappear
By Alex Baluku
The climate crisis is touching nearly every country of the world, and one of the most visible indicators of its impact in East Africa is its effects on the glaciers on the Mountains of the Moon – the Rwenzori Mountains, a major source of freshwater in Uganda.
The snows are receding, glaciers are melting and crevasses are appearing on the ancient mountains. Climate change – causing the glacier melt along with the changing rain cycles – is contributing to destructive floods and impacting agriculture, biodiversity and cultural heritage in western Uganda. There, the glaciers have for centuries symbolized fertility of the land and a symbiotic relationship between humans and nature.
This multimedia story and video documentary produced by Alex Baluku with support from InfoNile and funding from the French Embassy in Uganda includes data visualizations, local storytelling, science and compelling visuals to showcase the importance of the Rwenzori glaciers to the Bakonzo people and the impacts of their disappearance.
The Choking Nile: Cross-Border Story
What does the future hold for the Nile – the basin’s lifeline – amidst rampant plastics pollution?
Plastic litter from bottles, bags and industries is found in waterways across the Nile River basin, which stretches across 11 countries in eastern Africa. But the vast majority of plastic does not biodegrade, remaining in the environment for long periods. A new research study commissioned by GIZ in partnership with the Nile Basin Initiative identified 29 critical marine litter hotspots in urbanized areas in the Nile River basin. Plastic from each of these hotspots was found to add to pollution in the shared Nile River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Over 6 months, InfoNile worked with local journalists from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Ethiopia, and Egypt to report about the extent and impacts of plastic pollution around these hotspots and produce an in-depth multimedia story with data visualizations.
Through data, science and local reporting, the story showed that plastic pollution is ubiquitous across the Basin countries and comes from domestic and industrial waste, local markets, construction of roads and buildings, and poor waste management. Pollution is affecting water quality and biodiversity, and leading to plastic entering the food chain through fish.
The journalists also highlighted the success of various plastic bag bans in Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, and documented initiatives such as the continent’s first waste-to-energy facility located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and the Kenya Producer Responsibility Organisation, which provides incentives to encourage companies to reduce and reuse plastic.
STORIES HIGHLIGHT
Tales of Kenyan families bearing scars of the Bleeding Lake Victoria
By Kevine Omollo
The past ten years have seen an increase in the water levels of Lake Victoria due to climate change. This, coupled with a damaged ecosystem, has seen animals such as hippos, crocodiles and snakes move closer to the shores to find new breeding and feeding areas, which has led to increased human-wildlife conflicts in Kisumu and Homa Bay counties.
While authorities have cited fishing pressure, encroachment of the lakeshores, unbalanced predator-prey relationships, and poor governance as some of the key contributing factors , water quality changes frompollution are also to blame. In collaboration with the Water Resources Authority (WRA) and with funding from JRS Biodiversity Foundation, InfoNile collected and assessed water samples along Rivers Auji, Kisat and Kisumu Bay between July 4 and 8, 2022.
The results indicated that these rivers are the main channels of pollution at the bay as they meander through the settlements in Kisumu, interacting with human activities which contribute to their pollution. Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Total Coliforms and E. coli, Lead, and Oil and Grease levels were found to be above the recommended ranges. Total Nitrogen, Total Suspended Solids, Biochemical Oxygen Demand, and Dissolved Oxygen values were also outside of recommended ranges. These have impacts on disease incidence and aquatic life.
How a family in Mbale saved its neighbourhood by using groundwater
By Henry Lutaaya
In Namakye in Bulusambu Parish,Mbale District, Uganda, the entire population of about 300 households have been enjoying free, clean and abundant drinking water for the last 7 years. But this was not the case in the 1960s and 1970s. Traditionally, one of the primary responsibilities for most children and women in poor rural areas of Uganda was to fetch water: a strenuous, dangerous and laborious task.
Mr. Nathan Wolukawu Wanda and his young brother, Mr. Michael Wamateke Wanda, were exposed to new knowledge of accessing clean water from alternative sources such as groundwater. Annoyed by the state of affairs, they made inquiries that led them to a project sponsored by the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) that drilled boreholes for communities.
With the groundwater resource in place, the Wanda brothers installed storage tanks, and added more taps for increased water supply using solar power. This has reduced cases of waterborne diseases and uninterrupted education for children. During the dry spell, more people from distant places ride bicycles and motorcycles to Namakye to fetch clean water.
Read in English.
The plight of an ancient river in Kenya: The degradation and restoration of River Kisian
By Curity Adhiambo Ogada and Alis Okonji
Originating from the Maragoli Forest, Kisian River is surrounded by the catchments of Riat and Kodiaga hills as it flows through Kisumu District, offering a lifeline for millions of Kenyans. It is a source of drinking water for the community and their livestock among other household chores. But despite the apparent food security and economic benefits of River Kisian to the community, the suitability of the land for irrigation and agriculture is an arising matter.
According to the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute (KMFRI), human activities, including deforestation and cultivation along River Kisian, are leading to an increase in water temperature, conductivity, total suspended and dissolved solids, and turbidity. Animal overuse of riparian areas has also been found to increase ammonia and nitrite due to increased runoff of animal wastes into streams. Near-stream human activities like bathing, laundry, and row crop agriculture have significantly influenced stream habitat and biotic characteristics.
Over the years, the banks of River Kisian have been subjected to large-scale sand, clay and rock harvesting, leading to massive soil erosion during heavy rains or flooding. River Kisian is known to break its banks during such seasons, as landslides widen them. River Kisian is crying for restoration.
View this photo story in English and Swahili
Between Clay and Cement: Is Egypt’s canal lining a solution or dilemma for farmers?
By Asmaa Gamal
About 3 percent of Egypt’s land, 98 percent of its population and almost all of Egypt’s agriculture depend on the Nile. Across Egypt’s Nile Valley, a complex, 55,000-kilometer web of canals, or water passages, channel the precious water from the Nile to farmers cultivating further from its shores.
But in recent years, many of these canals have fallen into disrepair. Poor quality materials and alluvial soils have also contributed to the loss of water seeping into the underground, as well as water pollution. Climate change, increasing population and rising extractions and exploitation of the river in the 11 countries of its basin have also put the country into an escalating water crisis.
As part of its strategy to deal with water scarcity, the government embarked on a project to line and rehabilitate 20,000 kilometres of the country’s canals in 2021, which is expected to benefit millions of farmers and save water that can be used to irrigate new lands. The project is intended to enhance water management and distribution, ensure the delivery of water to the ends of canals, and inhibit pollution. Yet, despite these benefits, canal lining has also presented disadvantages to some farmers, and it is uncertain how it will affect agriculture, water access and ecology in the future.
View this photo story in English
Leaders emphasize culture to protect groundwater in Tanzania
By Prosper Kwigize and Hadija Jumanne
In Tanzania, the Karagwe District within the Kagera River Basin still relies on indigenous knowledge, traditions, and norms to conserve water resources. And it is paying.
In this region, traditional leaders from the Nyambo indigenous tribe maintain customs and norms that prevent environmental degradation. These customs spell out punishments for anyone found to be destroying water sources. They have also scaled up community sensitization on the protection of water sources.
Read this story in English and Swahili
Underground Ivory Trade Threatens Dwindling Hippo Population in Uganda and DRC
By John Dibaba and Jonas Kiriko
It’s not known how many hippos are left across Africa. But in the past few decades, this animal – labelled the continent’s second-most dangerous after the lion – has become increasingly threatened by hunting for their teeth, demand for their meat, and habitat loss.
In 2022, Virunga National Park, Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, had 1,300 individual hippos, a 95 percent reduction from the number recorded in 1970. Its neighbour Uganda is also grappling with the same challenge, with fewer than 300 hippos remaining in Murchison Falls National Park, according to the Uganda Wildlife Authority.
Hippo body parts can still be legally traded under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), though most countries only offer permits for hippo ivory acquired from carcasses. This is a likely reason for continued underground trade, as traffickers seek permits under the pretext of having acquired the tusks from carcasses.
According to a TRAFFIC report, Uganda was the top country to export hippo products, contributing 40 percent of the worldwide trade between 2009 and 2018.
In our investigation, we discovered a passage that serves as an ecological corridor between Virunga National Park, eastern DRC and Queen Elizabeth National Park, western Uganda. The route has become a porous track used by ivory traffickers, who use it to access the Kayanja fishery on the Ugandan side. From Uganda, the ivory is trafficked to the Indian Ocean coast in Kenya where it is then transported to Asia – majorly Hong Kong.
Read this cross-border investigation by Jonas Kiriko and John Dibaba on hippo trafficking between the DRC and Uganda to find out more in English and French
Lighting up the Great Lakes region: Will a regional power grid finally chase darkness and spur EAC economies?
By Espoir Iradukunda and Ronald Musoke
Like many other East African Countries, irregular electricity supply in Bujumbura regularly forces simple operations like elevators in high-rise buildings to be halted. Locals have resorted to using solar panels, rechargeable lamps and generators albeit the high cost of fuel.
But the power problems are expected to change soon, thanks to regional electricity-sharing initiatives that have been spearheaded by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Programme (NELSAP). The project, specifically targeted at improving access to electricity in the upper Nile Basin countries (Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), will increase cross-border sharing of electricity, aiming to result in cost-effective exchange of electricity and integration of regional economies.
If executed well, experts say the cost of electricity could markedly go down and all the interconnected countries in the upper Nile Basin could benefit from reliable and affordable electricity.
Here’s how in English and French
Dams of fortune or misfortune?
By Gerald Tenywa
The construction of dams has become an issue in many countries due to limited inclusiveness and transparency in the construction of dams. This leads to massive displacement of people and causes enormous environmental damage. In addition, the provision of electric power from large dams has been discounted against competing interests such as displacement of people and loss of tourism, cultural assets, and biodiversity.
Such is the case in Uganda with the construction of the Isimba Dam. While it has provided employment and support towards the facelift of schools and health centres in the district’s sub-counties and extended power to many trading centres in Kayunga, the developments have also come with negative impacts, many of which have not been compensated.
Should this be the norm? Read in English.
Reformed poachers’ groups curb human-wildlife conflict through improving livelihoods
By Timothy Murungi
Poverty within communities living near national parks is one of the major drivers of poaching. Therein lies the big challenge of reaching the poachers to provide them with alternative livelihood projects and educate them about the benefits of conservation.
Previously, ex-poacher groups agreed to work with the Uganda Wildlife Association to adopt alternative sources of income. They achieved initial successes in mobilising poachers to leave the parks and start other businesses. However, a pending MOU and lack of continued funding for alternative livelihood projects are now threatening their growth and survival.
Read in English and Swahili
Climate change sparking increased spread of invasive plants invading Uganda’s National Parks
By Chowoo Willy, Kirungi Patra and Oroma Gladys
The Pearl of Africa, Uganda, is a convergence zone for five of Africa’s important ecological zones and is home to an estimated half of the world’s mountain gorillas. The country is rich in biodiversity, with close to 19,000 species of flora and fauna. However, these species are being threatened by invasive plants that are spreading fast across the national parks, displacing other species and affecting wildlife populations.
Unlike many invasive species that are transplanted from elsewhere, most of these species are native to Uganda but have developed genetic modifications to adapt to climate change. As of 2018, the invading species had invaded 47 percent of the three national parks of Lake Mburo, Queen Elizabeth and Kidepo Valley national parks, and between 10-20 percent of Murchison Falls National Park.
According to UWA, the invading species are a major cause of human-wildlife conflicts in most of the national parks, because they push animals out of the protected areas in quest for pastures. This leads to conflicts with the communities living near the national parks. Animals such as hippos, buffalos, zebras, topis, and Uganda Kobs are particularly affected due to the loss of grazing land.
Read in English
Decentralized management of ivory and other illegal wildlife stocks fuels illicit trade of wildlife in the DRC
By Jonas Kiriko
Almost every month, the national police, the customs services, and the Congolese Institute for the Conservation of Nature (ICCN) conduct seizures of protected wildlife species and ivory in DR Congo. But it is becoming increasingly common to find seized items back in the hands of traffickers.
Border posts, car parks, airports, ports, hotels and private homes are among the places where these seizures are reported in the DRC. Due to corruption and the lack of adequate mechanisms for storage and traceability, these objects remain for long periods in the premises of the institutions that seized them, exposing them to repeat thefts by traffickers.
The #WildEye Eastern Africa map by Oxpeckers Investigative Environmental Journalism in partnership with InfoNile tracked 134 cases of wildlife crime in the DRC between 2017 and 2023. Although there have been some prosecutions and convictions, there is no guarantee that the seized ivory will not fall back into the hands of other traffickers.
Read this investigation in English and French
Why are wildlife crimes easily committed in South Sudan?
By Diing Magot and Denis Morris Mimbugbe
Elephants, buffalos, giraffes and other populations have been decimated in South Sudan, the world’s youngest country. Wildlife crimes are committed in all national parks in South Sudan, but the country lacks “elaborate and comprehensive wildlife policies and laws” to enforce its Wildlife Act.
Massive poaching and trafficking coupled with illegal mining, timber harvesting, and charcoal production in the protected areas endanger wild animals’ lives, habitats, and food. Moreover, insecurity in the county, especially after the 2013 and 2016 wars, has led to a steady flow of firearms into the civilian communities at a time when the country is facing economic hardships. Subsequently, some civilians and security officials reportedly use these easily assessed guns to poach for bushmeat, which they sell for income generation.
For seven months during our #WildEye Eastern Africa investigation, we attempted to acquire data on arrests and court cases of wildlife crime in South Sudan from 2017 onward. Here are our findings.
UN leaders push for innovative financing for water as world grapples with water-related disasters
By Annika McGinnis
Around the world, about two billion people still lack access to safe drinking water and 40 percent are affected by water scarcity. Pressure on freshwater is also projected to increase by more than 40 percent by 2050. Climate change, migration and conflicts are all linked to the need for water.
Access to water goes hand in hand with sanitation and health. But access to safely managed sanitation in urban and rural areas in most developing countries is lacking and is being worsened by climate change. While about 90 percent of climate impacts are related to water, only 3 percent of current climate finance goes to water resources.
At the UN 2023 Water Conference that convened this year from 22-24 March in New York, there was a plea to include water in the formal negotiating tracks at COP28. Several UN agencies, banks, international donors and West African nations rallied around creating more innovative financing mechanisms that would allow public and private capital to jointly finance the water sector. But despite more than 700 “non-binding” commitments, the first UN Water Conference in 46 years saw few definitive pledges for finance.
Read in English
Biking to Breathe: Ugandan Cycles Over 650 Kilometres for Clean Urban Transport Systems and Climate
By Kevine Omollo, Henry Owino and Andrew Aijuka
Deaths in Africa from outdoor air pollution increased by almost 60 percent between 1990 and 2017, according to UNICEF. More than 80 percent of people living in urban areas are exposed to air quality levels that exceed their recommended limits, threatening lives, productivity and economies, the World Health Organization found. How can growing African cities improve their transport systems while reducing air pollution?
Hakim Owiny, a Ugandan environmental activist, believes the answer may lie in developing systems for urban cycling. In partnership with eBee, a Kenyan electric bicycle company, InfoNile supported Owiny’s cycling campaign from Kampala to Nairobi that started on 28th August to attend the 2023 Africa Climate Summit. Covering over 650 kilometres, Hakim’s objective in biking between the two cities was to promote cycling as a climate-smart means of transport by advocating for safe cycling lanes.
The lack of safe cycling lanes has seen cyclists lose their lives, while others are left with permanent disabilities due to carelessness by motorists. Owiny’s campaign pushed for the establishment of cycling lanes in all road networks in Africa, especially in urban centres where pollution from motor vehicle fumes has become a huge menace.
Here’s the story and video documentary in English
