For many years, under the cover of darkness, thousands of fishermen set sail from various beaches on Lake Victoria, their kerosene lamps illuminating the choppy waters.
As they venture further into the deep waters, hundreds of sardine-like fish – popularly known as omena – leap out of the water and into their nets, which are then hauled into the boats.
Although most of the fishermen shifted to solar lamps after environmental and health experts raised concerns about the widespread use of kerosene lamps on the lake for nighttime fishing, the trend is being reversed.
The practice is mostly being perpetuated by fishermen from neighbouring Uganda, where authorities have banned the use of the more efficient solar-powered lamps.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that breathing kerosene fumes is the equivalent to smoking two packets of cigarettes a day, with two-thirds of adult females with lung cancer in developing nations being non-smokers. Many are probably to smoke from open fires and kerosene lamps.
Ugandan authorities have classified solar-powered lamps as part of the outlawed fishing gear, citing their impact on Nile Perch production…