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{
    "id": 563728,
    "url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/563728/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 389,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, when the Jubilee Government came to power, it promised to put one million acres under irrigation to enhance food production. However, the project was taken to two counties, that is, Tana River and Kilifi, where there is a population of less than 500,000. We should fight hunger by being realistic. Every county should have been given a ratio of that one million acres. We proposed a Motion in this House last year to give every county an appropriate amount of money to do irrigation. I know that Nairobi is full of houses, but who said that it cannot lease land from Kajiado? It can lease land from Narok. They can go to West Pokot or Turkana where they can even be given land for free. If that is done, then it will be very easy to get food crops and guarantee every person food. The national and county governments shall have to extend their mandate as set out in this Bill. They should promote childhood nutrition. Some counties, including mine, are leading in malnutrition. For example, about 46 per cent of the population in my county is suffering from malnutrition. The average percentage of those suffering from that problem in Kenya is, 26 per cent. That means those areas were forgotten or marginalised. Therefore, the Food Security Bill (Senate Bill No. 23 of 2014) is the “saviour.” This Bill should dictate that every ward in the Republic should build a store for food. Governors and the national Government should wait for and implement the recommendations of this Bill when it finally becomes an Act. When we are talking about getting food for Kenyans, we should guarantee and eliminate some of these problems. It does not mean that emphasis should be on maize production alone; there are many things that can be done, especially with integrated irrigation. Many other food crops can be grown. When this Bill is passed, it should assign specific roles to both the county and national governments for us to provide food security to our people. Hunger and lack of food should be things of the past. We must strive to get right food for our people. Madam Temporary Speaker, good health and food are related. Going to school hungry, as we saw a video of schools in Baringo County, make children fail in their exams. All these factors are related. Sickness attacks people who are hungry all the time. The ultimate solution of eradicating all these problems is eliminating hunger. I urge my colleagues to look at this Bill thoroughly and become proponents of it. When the Bill is finally passed, governors should get it and the MCAs should implement it. With those remarks, I beg to second."
}