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Mobile phones and increases in Fish Quality and Quantity on Lakes Edward and Albert

GEF-AfDB-NBI LEAF Project

By IW:LEARN

November 16^th, 2021

What connection can there be, between a normal smart mobile phone and an increase in quality and quantity of fish catch from a lake? Well, on the transboundary Lakes Edward and Albert, between D.R Congo and Uganda, the two are very closely interlinked. This is because the LEAF II Project is pioneering a mobile-based Fisheries Information Management System that will enable continuous Catch Assessment Survey (CAS) data collection for the two lakes.

Eng. Jacques Kapagama, A Fisheries Statistics Expert In The DRC Ministry Of Fisheries, Testing the Mobile Based System At Kasenyi Landing Site Ituri Province Of D.R. Congo. With Him Is Mr. Kakura Unjoka Jean-Henri (R) trained in MBS (Credit :LEAF II)

How the system will work

At the centre of this is a locally developed, cloud-based application available for download on Google Play. Through it, local fishers and their officials, based at various landing sites, armed with just a phone and some internet data can regularly collect information at their normal working areas and this is transmitted to a central database accessible to both countries.

“From the database, the two countries will monitor quantity of fish caught, fish sizes, species, boat and fishing gear types per landing site and generally monitor status of health of the two lakes,” said Eng. Jacques Kapagama, a Fisheries Statistics Expert in the D.R Congo Fisheries Ministry. The system can summarize and produce information in form of graphs and excel sheets, available to fisheries officials.

The information system has been developed by a team from both countries led by Mr. Isaac Omiat, an IT expert at the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries of Uganda and Mr. Daddy Tshiyombo an IT expert from the D.R Congo Ministry of Fisheries.

“This system is very important because before the LEAF II project, D.R Congo had never conducted any Catch Assessment Survey (CAS) on these lakes due to financial resources constraints,” explains Eng. Jacques Kapagama. LEAF II enabled D.R Congo to organize the first standardized CAS in the two lakes and trained enumerators and supervisors who, using this system, will collect data on a permanent basis on the course of their regular duties.

On his part, the Governor of Ituri Province H.E Jean Bamanisa Saidi and his Minister for Fisheries Affairs, Hon. Guerchole Dramani commended LEAF II for supporting D.R Congo, and said information generated through the system will support their government’s decision making. The two spoke during a briefing session at H.E the Governor’s offices in Bunia, on 9th February 2021.

“The system is multi-lingual (French and English) and operates online and offline and as data is entered, it is saved, so any error at any stage can be corrected without losing already entered data,” Mr. Omiat the lead System Developer explained. The enumerators will be provided with internet data and access codes, generated by fisheries officials and systems administrators from their respective countries.

Trainees of the Mobile Based CAS System in Bunia, Ituri Province DRC Feb 2021. (Credit: LEAF II)

“I prefer this system because once I input information, it transmits immediately and my work is complete, and even if am in a place with poor network coverage, information remains in my phone and later transmits on its own,” explains Mr. Kakura Unjoka Jean-Henri, one of the local enumerators who has been trained for this activity. On a normal day, Mr. Kakura is a landing site community health monitor (chief de sante) and his regular job is to inspect fish handling at Tambaki area of Tchomya landing site on Lake Albert (D.R Congo).

“Costs of conducting standard CAS are very high, hence most African countries rarely conduct them, furthermore, national budget allocations to fisheries research activities are often meagre, which affects the quality and reliability of fisheries information,” explains Mr. Godfrey Sengendo, the Regional Project Coordinator for LEAF II. Once completed, the system will be handed over to the two countries for use beyond the LEAF II project

Trainees of Mobile Based CAS System in August 2021 in Goma, North Kivu Province, DRC. (Credit: LEAF II)

About the LEAF II Project

The Lakes Edward & Albert Integrated Fisheries & Water Resources Management Project (LEAF II) project is jointly implemented by the D.R Congo and Uganda, and coordinated regionally by the Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program Coordination Unit (NELSAP-CU) of the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI). Its overall objective is to sustainably utilize the fisheries and allied natural resources of the Lakes Edward and Albert Basin through harmonized legal framework and policies. The project total budget is USD 24.2 million comprised of African Development Bank (AfDB) grant of US$ 8.785 Million to DR Congo ; AfDB loan of US$ 7.321 Million to Uganda, and Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant of US$ 8.1 Million to NBI-NELSAP for the LEAF II regional activities. The Project started to be implemented from 2016 and it will end in 2021. Significant successes have already been realised in the Lakes Edward and Albert Basin due to the implemented project activities.

For more information on the GEF-AfDB-NBI Lakes Edward and Albert Project kindly contact the Project Manager, Godfrey Sengendo (gsengendo@nilebasin.org). Additional resources are available on the project website and dedicated project page on iwlearn.net.