HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, POST, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"count": 1608389,
"next": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=155153",
"previous": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=api&page=155151",
"results": [
{
"id": 1569712,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569712/?format=api",
"text_counter": 180,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": "said extension workers are the link between science and agriculture. Whether we have new technology or new farm inputs, they will not reach farmers unless we have the extension workers. That is the only way we will improve productivity, agronomy and the value chain. Whatever we do, those are the people that we need. I, therefore, support this Bill because it does what is most important when we want to make change to create a structure. The objects of the Bill indicate that it creates a national agricultural extension services strategy. There will be somebody who will have the responsibility of doing that. It then creates the Board. Again, this is important. The composition of the Board, to a large extent, is appropriate, with three members appointed by the Council of Governors. Whereas I support that, the two of them that are experts should have a direct link and we should put it in the Bill. For example, we should have County Executive Committee (CEC) members appointed from counties through the Council of Governors. If we just have an expert who is appointed by the Council of Governors as a pure expert, they will lose track as to why they are in the Board. I have seen that the Board advises the Cabinet Secretary. Its focus is on the Cabinet Secretary. We should remember that the Cabinet Secretary is at the national level. That is an area we should really look at. The Board should not see itself, to a large extent, as a hand of the Cabinet Secretary, but as an entity that serves county governments as well as the national Government."
},
{
"id": 1569713,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569713/?format=api",
"text_counter": 181,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": "This Bill brings out the role of county governments. One of the important roles that I notice is the recruitment of extension service officers. These are the people. It is right that they are recruited by county governments. But as it is presented in the Bill, if we are not careful, we may have some conflict between the national Government and county governments. This is because this looks clearly as a national Government entity. The relationship we have had between the national Government and county governments, unfortunately, has been adversarial. That may not work very well. That is an area we should look at. These are county employees, but their employment is initiated or advised from the Board, which looks like a national function."
},
{
"id": 1569714,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569714/?format=api",
"text_counter": 182,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": "In terms of finance, the Board is solely financed from Parliament. That means it is a national function. Boards and all institutions tend to be loyal to where their finances come from. Therefore, we have to look at other ways of financing that make the Board feel that its main function will only be felt if the extension workers are available and functioning at the county level."
},
{
"id": 1569715,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569715/?format=api",
"text_counter": 183,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": "I support this Bill, but we have to look at the relationship between the Board, the national Government, and county governments so that there is free flow of information and functions. Let us take the example of the Universal Health Care workers that we have. They were recruited by the Public Service Commission and are all under the Ministry of Health, but work in counties. If we were to have a problem, we will not be sure who should do what. I support the Bill and its structures. The proposer and the co-sponsor are here and we should look at the relationship I have pointed out very well. We will propose some amendments, if necessary, when we come to the Committee of the whole House."
},
{
"id": 1569716,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569716/?format=api",
"text_counter": 184,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Seme, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) James Nyikal",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker."
},
{
"id": 1569717,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569717/?format=api",
"text_counter": 185,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. David Ochieng’",
"speaker_title": "The Temporary Speaker",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Well said. Member for Eldas."
},
{
"id": 1569718,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569718/?format=api",
"text_counter": 186,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. This Bill is timely. It is timely because it brings about serious definitional clarity on the meaning of agriculture and livestock. I can see my good friend and my elder brother here, Hon. Aden Haji, who is a professional product of livestock extensions services not only in the northern Kenya region, but also in the entire country. He is the pioneer."
},
{
"id": 1569719,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569719/?format=api",
"text_counter": 187,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Over the years, as a country, we have had very many missed opportunities. At the face of it, if we just sit down and reflect, we have a country. Our number one agenda is food security and it has a definition. The World Food Programme, in the Summit of 1996, defined food 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": 1569720,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569720/?format=api",
"text_counter": 188,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": "security as the means all people, at all times have physical and economic access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food that meets their dietary needs and food preferences for active and healthy life. Is that what we have been doing? Is that what we do? It is not. I must congratulate the author of the Bill, its supporters and colleagues in the Senate who have attempted to look at it. We ought to have had it a long time ago. Some of the components the Bill attempt to help farmers in accessing knowledge, in getting information, and in getting serious technological transfers because farming has been modernised. It is not like the old days where farming methods did not add a lot of value to the wellbeing of the ordinary farmer. This Bill also attempts to enhance and modernise some of our agricultural practices. It attempts to bring about issues that can enhance economic productivity. It also provides an avenue for training. It also attempts to support market linkages that will bring about sustainability. When we were in school, we used to get access to the 4-K Clubs. We were encouraged to join agricultural marketing organisations. Today, if you ask the ordinary farmer about farming, you will realise that the kind of things they do and what they are expected to do are completely different. In this country, the definition of agriculture was based on coffee, tea, pyrethrum and other crops found in central Kenya. If you look at the face of this country, agriculture encompasses livestock, fishing and other marine activities. We need to get out of that cage which is part of the colonial mentality. Immediately we got our Independence, Sessional Paper No.10 of 1965 defined agriculture as what was practised in the high-potential areas of the larger Mount Kenya region. What was grown in the region? It was coffee, tea and pyrethrum. Period. Mandarins in the Treasury and those in the Ministry of Economic Planning stopped thinking about the face of this country. In their mind, fish was a commodity for the Luo subsistence farmer. Livestock was predominantly associated with the pastoralist communities in parts of northern Kenya and Rift Valley. That definition must change. I am very happy with this Bill because it brings out definitional clarity. I thank Hon. (Dr) Mutunga and his team for drafting it. We also need to diversify our economy. If you ever get an opportunity to go to Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan or Egypt, please visit some of their farms. These countries are desserts. Saudi Arabia is the largest wheat-producing country in the world, competing with Australia and the United States of America. If you go to Israel, you will be amazed by the kind of dairy farming there. If you go to Jordan on the other side, the country deliberately invested in technological transfer and empowerment of the ordinary farmer. That is not what we do today. During the colonial time, and I am glad my sister from Narok and Hon. Adan Haji are here, we used to have the Livestock Marketing Division (LMD), Livestock Holding Grounds (LHG)), Livestock Migratory Roots (LMR) and a vibrant and functional Kenya Meat Commission (KMC)."
},
{
"id": 1569721,
"url": "http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569721/?format=api",
"text_counter": 189,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Eldas, JP",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adan Keynan",
"speaker": null,
"content": "In 1968—this is a sad part of our history, but we must say it for the current and the next generation—the newly independent Botswana sent a high-powered agricultural extension officers to come and benchmark with KMC. Today, the Botswana Meat Commission (BMC) provides meat to the entire European Union (EU) market while KMC is still struggling with nothing practical to mention. Eventually, one of the products of KMC, a Kenyan, ended up being the Principal Secretary for Livestock in Botswana. He is one of the most respected livestock farmers in Botswana."
}
]
}