Water hyacinth control in Lake Victoria: Transforming an ecological catastrophe into economic, social, and environmental benefits

Güereña, David; Neufeldt, Henry; Berazneva, Julia; Duby, Sam

doi:10.1016/j.spc.2015.06.003

Cited by 72 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…During interview, key informants reported that only few NGOs particularly Nature and Biodiversity Union (NABU) organized the vulnerable groups and trained them to convert the weed into various benefits. [53] claimed that transforming water hyacinth into various benefits plays a role for sustainable management of the weed.…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic effects of water hyacinth (Echhornia Crassipes) in Lake Tana, North Western Ethiopia

2020

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Water hyacinth has been progressively advanced in Lake Tana since 2011 and covered vast areas of the lakeshore. The aim of this study was to assess how the lakeshore covered by the weed mats affected the socioeconomic of the local community. The study was based on a survey of 405 households, 8 group discussions and interviews of 15 key informants conducted from January to March 2018. The results revealed that crop production, livestock feed supply, water supply, fishing, the health of local people and livestock were impacted negatively by the infestation of water hyacinth. The range of socioeconomic problems caused by the weed generally implied the real impacts on the lives of local communities and national economic development. The efforts made to control water hyacinth has costed huge labor and financial resources. The results revealed that close to 800,000 human labor dedicated to manual removal of the weed from 2012 to 2018 and above one million USD spent for procurement of harvester machines and bioagent experiments. In spite of the devotion of huge labor and spending of a lot of money, the expansion of the weed has not controlled. Poor coordination of controlling efforts, dumping of harvested dense mats of the weed in the lakeshore, lack of genuine participation of the local people are principal factors for the failure of the controlling efforts A coordination of various stakeholders thus is needed to make eradicating methods more effective. Other alternative options should also be considered to control the weed expansion.

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Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic effects of water hyacinth (Echhornia Crassipes) in Lake Tana, North Western Ethiopia

2020

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“…) and water hyacinth cover in some shallow inner bays (Guerena et al . ; Opande et al . ; Aloo et al .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Spatial variations in sedimentary organic matter in surficial lake sediments of Nyanza Gulf (Lake Victoria, Kenya) after invasion of water hyacinth

Mwamburi

2016

Lakes & Reservoirs

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No detailed studies have been conducted on the spatial distribution of sediment characteristics within Nyanza Gulf of Lake Victoria, especially after the invasion of water hyacinth. Accordingly, a rapid, inexpensive method was used to determine the spatial sediment organic matter variations, expressed as loss on ignition (LOI). Surficial sediments were collected during different survey periods from about thirty-two sampling sites between 1994 and 2012, in order to characterize the sediments. Although the deeper (>40 m) depositional areas are located in the open lake, visual observations indicate that most of the offshore sediments consist of muddy deposits, plus significant shell remains, with a more sandy type of sediments located in some areas off the inflowing river mouths. The surficial sediments were characterized by a relatively high water content, with over 89% of the samples containing water contents greater than 75%. The sediment organic matter contents from the 2012 survey were more variable, ranging from 1.90% to 33.47%. The sediment organic carbon contents varied spatially, although there were no significant variations between the different sampling periods. Evaluating the SOM at different heating durations at a constant temperature (550°C) and a very high temperatures (950°C) did not identify any significant differences. High primary production and greater settling in the deeper areas contribute to the nature of sediments deposited, also being reflected in the relatively high OC contents. Spatially, it is thought that detritus from water hyacinth and terrestrial external loads are important sources of organic matter deposited on the lake bottom within the gulf and may support its growth because of enrichment of nutrient elements. The importance of sediments in adsorption of contaminant substances and influencing geochemical processes within the lake is also emphasized.

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“…In the past two decades, the weed has invaded and proliferated in Lake Victoria in East African causing major socioeconomic and environmental disruptions including blockage of fishing grounds, transport routes, and water intakes and increase in waterborne diseases among other challenges [14,22]. Management and removal of the weed from the lake have been expensive and only partially successful [16]. However, efforts for control and removal of the weed can be complemented by its use as a biomass for biogas production.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterization of water hyacinth (E. crassipes) from Lake Victoria and ruminal slaughterhouse waste as co-substrates in biogas production

2019

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Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes), an invasive water weed with a large biomass, poses serious socioeconomic and environmental challenges in fresh water bodies. Efforts to control and remove water hyacinth (WH) can be complemented by biogas production, which, however, requires knowledge of its chemical and nutritional composition. Moreover, codigestion with other substrates may compensate for possible limitations of its largely lignocellulosic biomass. This study carried out proximate, crude fiber, elemental and biochemical analysis of WH and a co-substrate, ruminal slaughterhouse waste (RSW). The WH had significant concentrations of cellulose, hemicellulose and carbohydrates of 331,200, 231,800 and 447,800 mg/L, respectively, and lesser concentration of lignin of 99,400 g/L that is desirable in biomass for biogas production. Concentrations of C, N, P and K in WH were 15,480, 1654, 51 and 137 mg/L compared to 26,220, 1390, 34 and 7475, respectively, for RSW, which indicated potential for biogas generation. The potassium concentration for WH of 137 mg/L was below the optimum range of 200-400 mg/L while that for RSW of 7476 mg/L was in the inhibitory range. Both biomass exhibited phosphorous deficiency at C/P of 310 and 656 for WH and RSW, respectively, against optimum ratio of 100 and 150 for hydrolysis and acidogenesis stages and methanogenesis stage, respectively. The C/N for WH of 9.4 was at the lower limit for optimal biogas production of 8 mg/L that demarcates potential ammonia toxicity while that for RSW of 18.8 was near the upper limit of 20 mg/L for nitrogen deficiency. Co-digesting the two substrates has the potential for balancing potassium concentrations and the C/N ratios. Trial co-digestion of WH with RSW improved WH gas production demonstrating complementary effect of the two substrates. However, commercialization of the codigestion would need to establish the optimal mix proportions and methanogenic microbial communities involved in the digestion process.

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Water hyacinth control in Lake Victoria: Transforming an ecological catastrophe into economic, social, and environmental benefits

Cited by 72 publications

References 33 publications

Socioeconomic effects of water hyacinth (Echhornia Crassipes) in Lake Tana, North Western Ethiopia

Socioeconomic effects of water hyacinth (Echhornia Crassipes) in Lake Tana, North Western Ethiopia

Spatial variations in sedimentary organic matter in surficial lake sediments of Nyanza Gulf (Lake Victoria, Kenya) after invasion of water hyacinth

Characterization of water hyacinth (E. crassipes) from Lake Victoria and ruminal slaughterhouse waste as co-substrates in biogas production

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