Lake Victoria , Africa 's largest lake , has been plagued by water hyacinth plants for over two decades . While its flowers can be beautiful its foliage can grow to cover large swaths of the waters in a dense green mat of leaves that choke the shoreline of fish . Fishermen often struggle each day for a meager catch , but an entrepreneurial weaver has found that the invasive plant can be a free source of material for the area 's women who make handicrafts . `` When we make products from this hyacinth , we are empowering women economically . They become self-reliant . That means we are alleviating poverty , '' said Caroline Agwanda , who heads Hyacinth Ornaments Production Enterprises in Kisumu , Kenya . The organization , which sells products ranging from handbags to furniture , aims to give employment to disadvantaged women , youths and those with disabilities . For years , the area 's weavers have used banana and sisal fibers to make their wares . They are now turning to hyacinth because of its abundance . But if the weavers ' craft is flourishing , many in the local fishing community are suffering . Water hyacinth grows into a thick bed of waxy leaves and violet flowers that cover the surface of the lake . It is native to South America but was introduced in Africa in the late 1800s . The plant species can double its mass every five days , according to scientists . Because of its dense growth , it blocks sunlight from reaching the lake 's native aquatic plants , which affects fish and other marine life -- and those who make their livelihoods catching them . `` It has really affected us because the quantity of fish that we used to get from this lake has diminished , '' said Jonathan Opiyo , a fisherman . The difficulties faced by the fishing community are evident at the local markets , where instead of fish traders and buyers loudly haggling over prices , there are only a few quiet voices . The weavers are not even putting a dent into the sheer growth of the plant , which at the moment is particularly severe . `` It goes all the way -- the furthest you can actually see , '' said Philip Ochieng , a research scientist who is working with the government to mitigate the environmental problems caused by hyacinth . `` This is the biggest acreage of water hyacinth since it was first reported in Lake Victoria in 1992 . '' Methods that have been tried in the past include the release of South American weevils that eat the plant , as well as machinery that shreds from the water surface . These efforts worked for a while but were not seen as a permanent solution . Ochieng does not advocate the weavers ' use of hyacinth , because transporting it from the lake to their homes could help the plant spread . However Agwanda says she thinks the weavers could make a real contribution to the removal of the harmful plant from the lake . She would like to see support for the project and to have the resources for machinery that would help make thousands of meters of hyacinth rope each day . `` If we have like a factory somewhere , we 'll be consuming a lot of hyacinth , '' Agwanda said . The wares that Agwanda 's group creates are sold mainly in large towns across Kenya . The finished items are not cheap , and some she says some locals do not appreciate the innovation of utilizing a menacing weed . `` They say , 'You normally get this hyacinth free of charge from the lake . You should sell it for 20 shilling . ' They 're not looking at the time and skill of coming up with new products and a competitive product , '' she said . Invasive species : Eat them before they eat everything .
Water hyacinth covers large swaths of Lake Victoria . The invasive plant species is choking the lake of nutrients and threatening fishermen livelihoods . Local weavers have shown that the hyacinth can be used to dye their products . The weavers are not even putting a comb into the dense growth .