The largest ethnic group living in the lower Mara River Basin, Tanzania, are the Kurya People; a Bantu speaking people with possible Nilotic origins. The Kurya are an ethnic minority of about approximately 700,000-1,000,000 people living in a collection of subtribal…
The Mara River Basin stretches across territory in Kenya and Tanzania making it a transboundary basin. There are more than 300 transboundary basins throughout the world. Many of these are shared by just two countries like the Mara. However, even…
Deforestation is a global problem that causes myriad problems for wildlife, water, people, climate, you name it. The deforestation has caused erosion into the Mara River, a process by which topsoil and other materials are washed into tributaries and the…
Erosion is a major challenge to the Mara River Basin, as identified by the Lake Victoria Basin Water Offices (LVBWO) in Mwanza. The SELVA team, working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Water in Dar es Salaam and the LVBWO, looked…
The SELVA team observed and discussed agricultural practices with locals throughout the Lower Mara River Basin in Tanzania. We were visiting at the tale end of the dry season (March) and talked with farmers harvesting fruit and vegetables to consume…
The Mara River holds essential important because it is a water resource for local human and ecological communities. As a water resource, the Mara provides year round, albeit inconsistent, flow. The river reflects seasonal flow and level fluctuations due to whether it is…
The SELVA team traveled throughout the Lower Mara River Basin in Tanzania to collect data from water users about their water access, water quality, and water quantity and encountered chonga moto – Swahili for challenges – related to water and…
The SELVA team encountered men, women, and kids fishing every day in the Lower Mara River Basin and on Lake Victoria. Fishing is done with traps, nets, line and hook, and with a local plant-based poison. People fish from boats,…
The SELVA Sustainable Water Initiative for the Mara River is just getting underway. We are funded through the MacArthur Foundation and administered through Florida International University. Our first year goals are to understand the Mara River basin as…
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