http://41.59.91.195:9090/handle/123456789/110 2026-05-08T13:28:34Z 2026-05-08T13:28:34Z Bulengela, Gideon Onyango, Paul Brehm, Joan Sweke, Emmanuel Staehr, Peter http://41.59.91.195:9090/handle/123456789/226 2024-06-15T10:01:42Z 2020-08-28T00:00:00Z

“Bring fishermen at the center”: the value of local knowledge for understanding fisheries resources and climate-related changes in Lake Tanganyika Bulengela, Gideon; Onyango, Paul; Brehm, Joan; Sweke, Emmanuel; Staehr, Peter In this paper, we discuss the value of local knowledge of fishermen from Kigoma, along the North Eastern shores of Lake Tanganyika, regarding fish and climate-related issues of the lake. We explore how that knowledge can be incorporated into sustainable management activities. We used a qualitative approach to investigate the local knowledge and perception of changes and their causes. About 64 respondents comprising fishermen, fish processers, Beach Management Unit leaders, fisheries officers and elders were interviewed between April and December 2016. Our analysis shows that there have been increasing fishing activities in the lake from the 1970s. Increased fishing activities and climate-related changes in the lake have resulted in dramatic decreases in fish landings between the 1990s and the present. It was also revealed that fishermen hold valuable knowledge on fish availability, ecological conditions of the lake, and seasonal weather conditions. While they acknowledge the effects of changes in fishing practices and fishing pressure to explain the gradually decreasing fisheries, they have less understanding of the importance of longer-term changes in the lake environment resulting from climate change. This study concludes that future fisheries management could benefit from further incorporation of fishers’ local knowledge such as those related to ecological conditions of the lake and pressures from fishing practices. By expanding mechanisms to include the fishermen’s local knowledge, a strong signal is sent to them that their knowledge is valued by fisheries management. This has the potential to further motivate the fishermen to be active participants in contributing to sustainable management practices that can positively impact declining fish resources. In other words, fishermen need to be further “brought at the center” in decision-making processes that influence fisheries management options. Journal article

2020-08-28T00:00:00Z Bulengela, Gideon http://41.59.91.195:9090/handle/123456789/225 2024-06-15T10:01:36Z 2019-10-01T00:00:00Z

Warming up the Climate Change Debate: A Critical Review on the North-South Debate and the Position of Forest- dependent Communities Bulengela, Gideon Climate change has attracted the attention of scientists, researchers, politicians, organizations and other people who dwell on the planet earth. Among other things, the controversy over what climate change constitutes and how it should be mitigated is one of important factors that have attracted the attention of different actors. This has produced an enormous debate. I consider this debate as valuable as it pushes people to search for a better understanding of climate change. It is the same posture, this paper was written. This paper briefly contributes to the debate with a particular focus on the North-South aspect of the debate in relation to the position of local communities in the climate change discussions. The paper applied a political ecology perspective in an attempt to shed light on the forces behind introduced climate change mitigation options. JOURNAL ARTICLE

2019-10-01T00:00:00Z Bulengela, Gideon Onyango, Paul http://41.59.91.195:9090/handle/123456789/224 2024-06-15T10:01:30Z 2019-01-01T00:00:00Z

Exploring the agentic power in fishery: reflections from fishing communities of Lake Tanganyika, Kigoma, Tanzania Bulengela, Gideon; Onyango, Paul One of the central concerns of fisheries management is to understand the dynamics in the human-environment interactions especially in the context of the observed declining fish resources. This paper examines how agentic power drives the human environment interactions. Drawing on interviews with fishers from Lake Tanganyika in Kigoma, Tanzania, the paper demon strates how fishers negotiate their ways out of the structured rules and regulations to be able to access and benefit from the Lake’s fish resources. Actors in the study areas maneuvered their way through the externally driven and established rules and regulations set to manage the fisheries. Thus, instead of actors being passive recipients of these external rules and regulations, they actively engage with them and challenge those that affect or contradict with community values and norms, which enable access to fish resources. It is therefore argued that actors are capable of negotiating their ways to access fish resources, even in the face of institutional structures that would otherwise impede these efforts. Their power to invent new possibilities to respond to prob lematic situations needs to be acknowledged by resource managers as they seek alternative approaches to future fishery man agement strategies. JOURNAL ARTICLE

2019-01-01T00:00:00Z Bulengela, Gideon http://41.59.91.195:9090/handle/123456789/223 2024-06-15T10:01:24Z 2020-01-31T00:00:00Z

Reclaiming Ancestral Heritage: The Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) and People’s Access to Forest Resources Bulengela, Gideon Climate change poses challenge to the global society. Different measures have been set off in an attempt to address the problem. Among the recent adopted options is the “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation” (REDD+). However, little evidence exists on how options such as REDD+ may impact on forest-dependent communities. Drawing evidences from a forest dependant community in Kilosa, this study reveals the impact of REDD+ on community access and benefit from forest resources. The study used a qualitative approach to investigate local people’s perceptions of REDD+. About 33 respondents comprising village members, local leaders and forest managers were interviewed. Results from this study indicate that, REDD+ has limited the ways village members used to access and benefit from forest resources and therefore jeopardized their wellbeing. This study concludes that any measure taken to improve forest management should take into consideration forest dependent communities’ contextual situation in order to enhance the wellbeing of community members. JOURNAL ARTICLE

2020-01-31T00:00:00Z