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{
"id": 1464502,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464502/?format=api",
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"speaker": null,
"content": "Second Reading"
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{
"id": 1464503,
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"content": "THE MUNG BEANS BILL (Senate Bill No.13 of 2022)"
},
{
"id": 1464504,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464504/?format=api",
"text_counter": 385,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " Mover? Hon. Paul Nzengu."
},
{
"id": 1464505,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464505/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mwingi North, WDM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Eng.) Paul Nzengu",
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"content": " Hon. Speaker, I beg to move that the Mung Beans Bill (Senate Bill No.13 of 2022) be now read a Second Time. The Bill was read the First Time in the Senate on Wednesday, 15th February 2023 and thereafter, it was committed to the Standing Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for consideration. The Bill has 25 clauses and it seeks to provide for the development, regulation and promotion of the Mung Beans sector. It further provides for support of farmers of Mung Beans in each county in the production and marketing of their produce. It also encourages the use of Mung Beans as a food security item by the national government and county governments in their various feeding policies and programmes. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the Bill will have a significant impact on food security by increasing production, diversifying crops, reducing dependence on imports and creating economic opportunities. The Bill also proposes to establish linkages with international research agencies for the adoption of the best Mung Bean farming and processing practices. This proposal is critical as it will increase the production of Mung Beans. Under the Bill, there shall be County Executive Committee Members who shall enforce regulations and standards on the quality control of inputs and production of Mung Beans at the county level. The County Executive Committee Members shall also investigate complaints relating to unfair trade practices within the county. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1464506,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464506/?format=api",
"text_counter": 387,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mwingi North, WDM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Eng.) Paul Nzengu",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The Bill is crucial because where the national and county governments implement feeding programmes within schools, institutions or areas falling within their respective mandate, they shall implement a homegrown feeding programme aimed at promoting efficient production of Mung Beans in each county. This will ensure adequate supply to schools, relevant institutions and food insecure areas in the country. Additionally, the Bill requires the Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture to develop and adopt a policy for promoting growth and development of the Mung Beans industry in Kenya. The policy shall be reviewed at least once every five years. This Bill seeks to establish county licensing committee of mung beans which shall consist of chairperson, one person representing growers of mung beans in the respective county, one public officer in the Department of Agriculture and two public officers in the department responsible for trade with relevant experience in matters relating to trade and finance. As I have mentioned, the Bill seeks to regulate the mung beans sector. Therefore, a person who intends to market, process, or carry out large-scale trading in mung beans or its products shall apply to be issued with a licence by the county licensing committee. The licence shall be renewable annually. The Agriculture and Food Authority shall maintain a register of growers, buyers and other entities registered or licensed to undertake mung beans trading regulated by this Act. This Bill is very key as it will contribute to the diversification of crops and promotion of food security in the country. With those few remarks, I move and ask the Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock to second. Thank you."
},
{
"id": 1464507,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464507/?format=api",
"text_counter": 388,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": {
"id": 13328,
"legal_name": "Jeremiah Omboko Milemba",
"slug": "jeremiah-omboko-milemba"
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"content": " Hon. Mutunga. Chairperson of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock, as you second, you may have to explain to the country what mung beans are. Proceed."
},
{
"id": 1464508,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464508/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John K. Mutunga",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Temporary Speaker. This Senate Bill No.13 of 2022 was brought to this House on 22nd February. It has been here for a while and many discussions have been going on to see how we can manage this particular crop. It is an important crop, especially for the marginal areas of Kenya. The principal objective of this Bill is basically to develop, regulate and promote production of the crop across the areas that I will mention, where it can do best. The Bill seeks to promote the use of the bean itself in various counties for purposes of food security and response initiatives when need arises. It further seeks to promote production of the bean itself to generate higher income for those regions and the growers of the crop while at the same time facilitating introduction of mung beans production technology and its general modernisation. Hon. Temporary Speaker, coming back to your question on what mung beans are, mung beans are what we call dengu . They are green grams. Green grams grow in most parts of this country, especially in the Lower Eastern Kenya Region, Mount Kenya Region and most of the Eastern and Western parts of Kenya. It is a low altitude and medium altitude crop. There are some objectives I would like to mention about this Bill. The Bill, specifically, seeks to provide a framework for co-ordination and implementation of national policies and strategies on development and regulation of the entire mung beans industry all the way from pre-production to the table. We are talking about co-ordination of activities along the entire value chain. The question is why we are bringing up co-ordination of a specific bean. This is a special bean that does well in the areas I have mentioned – medium and low altitude areas. Therefore, it is a bean that has not been scheduled as yet. If it is not in the schedule, it means The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1464509,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464509/?format=api",
"text_counter": 390,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John K. Mutunga",
"speaker": null,
"content": "that it needs protection. It has a great potential to become a key cash crop for those areas. So, we need targeted interventions so that we can explore the potential in the production of this bean to develop those areas. It is a drought-tolerant crop that does well under very low rainfall regime. Hon. Temporary Speaker, the other main objective is to facilitate and develop a framework to regulate and promote the development of the mung beans and entire industry for competitive production locally and internationally. It will also promote the productivity of the mung beans and generate higher incomes for the people who will be engaged in this process. It will also facilitate modernization of mung beans farming techniques, general modernization of the industry and for cost control and production improvement. It also seeks to provide a framework for implementation of marketing strategies for mung beans in those areas within Kenya and outside this country. This is not a Money Bill. It is important for Kenyans to know that this Bill comes in under the regulation of the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA). We are not creating an institution in this Bill. It does not propose a new institution. Instead, it proposes that responsibilities be shared between the county governments and the national Government. Therefore, it does not introduce other costs. The AFA is tasked with the development of policies and standards, monitoring of implementation of policies and also collating, collecting and receiving data from the various counties and building the capacity of the counties for purposes of improving production and productivity. This entity has a Food Directorate. Mung beans fall under it. Therefore, mung beans will be managed under the Food Directorate. The counties will be required to provide extension services for mung beans production, enforce regulations and standards, and market them both locally and internationally. Therefore, it is advantageous to have mung beans because they give us extra sources of income. Mung beans are locally known as dengu, which are widely grown in Kenya. There are several varieties of mung beans, which have been improved over time. Two main varieties are worth mentioning: the K20 mung beans, which matures in between 80 and 90 days after planting; and N26 mung beans – also known as nylon – which matures in between 60 and 65 days after planting. There is a potential for production of mung beans in most parts of the country. I can cite a few counties where mung beans can do very well. These are Kitui County, Makueni County, Tharaka-Nithi County, Machakos County, Embu County, Taita Taveta County, Meru County and Kirinyaga County. They can also do well in parts of Western Kenya, which share the agro-ecology of the counties I have mentioned. While it is produced as a dry green in Kenya, other forms also occur. Sprouts, noodles and a paste can be produced from mung beans. This is common in the Asian countries. The plant can be used as both human food and a livestock fodder or feed, or green manure after it has been harvested. However, mung beans have not been categorised as seeded crops under Section 7 of the Crops Act. Therefore, they do not enjoy a special status or attention by the national Government and the county governments. That is why we have brought this particular legislation so that this crop gets due attention and be considered an important crop for those areas and in many other areas. A lot of work has been done by the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation, which has developed three early maturing varieties that are highly productive. There is need to promote dissemination of these technologies, innovations and management practices to various Kenyans so that they can apply them to produce mung beans. A survey that was done at the national level in 2020 made recommendations. One of them was that the county governments should provide subsidised farm machinery and equipment like ploughs, harvesters and dressers to maximise yield and bring down the cost of production of mung beans in counties where they do very well. Another important The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1464510,
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"text_counter": 391,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John K. Mutunga",
"speaker": null,
"content": "recommendation was that the Government should consider increasing the amount of certified seeds available to farmers by subsidizing their cost, and subsidizing the costs of other farm inputs like fertilizers and other agrochemicals to enable farmers to produce mung beans in large quantities. The other recommendation of this study was that the national Government and the county governments should provide crop insurance schemes to cushion farmers against losses attributable to weather variability, and pests and diseases. It is further recommended that the county governments should support the development of post-service management systems, technologies and aggregation infrastructure to support this Bill."
},
{
"id": 1464511,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1464511/?format=api",
"text_counter": 392,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John K. Mutunga",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Many other countries have utilised mung beans. India, which is the major producer of mung beans, contributes to about 30 per cent of global production, with Myanmar as a state, leading. Mung beans are entirely consumed domestically in India. India, as a nation, imports mung beans even from this country. They are looking for quantities that we cannot supply because we consume most of the mung beans we produce. In India, production, marketing and export of mung beans is governed by agricultural laws such as the Essential Commodities Act, the Agricultural Produce Market Committee Act, and the Indian Trade Classification or what we call a ‘harmonised system’ that classifies agricultural products for import and export in the country."
}
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}