Communication for Change: Altering Die-hard Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviour through Knowledge Sharing on Lake Victoria Pollution

Abstract

This paper reports the findings of a study that set out to establish the attitudes, knowledge, beliefs and behaviour of local residents towards the environmental pollution on Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The study employed four methods in the collection of data, which were analysed both quantitatively and qualitatively using SPSS and NVIVO computer programmes respectively. The main findings are that: residents of Mwanza were aware that the lake was polluted mainly by their own activities, yet they hold the government responsible for its failure to control the devastation. They also recognised that an effective communication framework among the stakeholders to avert the devastation does not exist. It is, therefore, concluded that, there was a need to initiate a strategic partnership between the government and the mass media to curb the increasing pollution on Lake Victoria.  Keywords: environmental pollution, attitudes, knowledge, beliefs and behaviour