The Adapting to Climate Change in Lake Victoria Basin (ACC-LVB) project was developed in order to increase climate resilience in the LVB through implementation of both regional and community-based climate change adaptation interventions/technologies. This regional project is executed by Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and implemented in LVB by five EAC partner states (Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda & Kenya). The project is financed by Adaptation Fund through UN Environment (UNEP) and has overall objective of “reducing vulnerability to the negative effects of climate change in the Lake Victoria Basin (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda), by building climate resilience”.   The ACC-LVB project has the following specific outcomes

1. Strengthened institutional and technical capacity to integrate climate resilience into trans-boundary water catchment management;
2. Improved delivery of accurate and timely climate information to regional and national policymakers, technical officers and local communities;
3. Climate change adaptation technologies transferred to communities to reduce their vulnerability to climate change;
4. Regional resilience to climate change promoted through innovative, community-based projects;
5. And improved knowledge management frameworks for the collection and maintenance of regional knowledge in trans-boundary water catchment management and climate change adaptation practices.

The Project Intervention Sites  Through a series of consultations between LVBC and partner states ACC-LVB priority climate hotspots with very high vulnerability index have been selected as project intervention sites across the LVB. The selection process was guided by the agreed regional criteria as well as various assessment reports including the Climate Change Vulnerability, Impacts and Adaptation Assessment (VIA) report for the LVB as developed under PREPARED (Planning for Resilience in East Africa through Policy, Adaptation, Research and Economic Development) programme in 2016.   Selected project intervention sites are as follows:

• Tanzania: Ng’haya village in Magu District of Mwanza region;
• Rwanda:  Kigarama Village in Gatore Sector; Kabeza Village  in Gahara Sector and 10 Villages of Kabuga and Gasarabwayi Cells  in Musaza Sector;
• Burundi: Cabariza and Bishisha in Busoni Commune of Kirundo Province; Nzove-Kayove and Rukusha–Kijimbura in Giteranyi Commune of Muyinga Province;
• Uganda: Kalungu and Kyangungu in Mubende District; Kitoma and Mijjunjtl in Masaka District;
• Kenya:   Project sites will be in Busia and Siaya Counties.

Adaptation Technologies The project is currently promoting the transfer, absorption and diffusion of a range of adaptation technologies and community-based adaptation interventions which provide outstanding opportunities to increase the regional and local level resilience of vulnerable communities and the ecosystems in the LVB. These technologies/interventions are based on best-practices across the LVB and cut across water conservation, climate smart agriculture (CSA) techniques and ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA) practices. Examples include: rainwater harvesting technologies (rooftop water harvesting, construction of water reservoirs, micro and macro catchment technologies); rehabilitation/restoration of degraded agricultural land and natural ecosystems (agroforestry, construction of terraces and gabions, traditional in situ fodder conservation, apiculture); conservation agriculture practices; micro-irrigation systems for crop intensification (horticultural and fruit farming); energy efficiency technologies (modern fish drying kiln, improved cookstoves and biogas installation) among others. Coupled with capacity development, these adaptation technologies and community-based adaptation interventions are expected to significantly contribute in reducing the vulnerability of regional and local community an ecosystem to the impacts of current and predicted climate change.