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{
    "id": 1030373,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1030373/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 67,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Eng.) Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 75,
        "legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
        "slug": "ephraim-maina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, Sen. Khaniri has clearly come out to articulate the issues in the tea sector. He has rightly - which I support - stated that the issues are not just about tea. There are issues of sugarcane, maize and coffee. I come from a coffee and tea growing area along-side dairy farming. Farmers are the most frustrated lot. Their hard work and interest in farming has led them to total impoverishment. It is a pity that the Government can look at tea farmers, for example, uprooting tea that has been on their farms for over 30 years because of frustration and nothing is done to check the situation. Mr. Speaker, Sir, today, tea farmers are actually a miserable lot. People may not understand tea farming but most tea farmers have literally nothing else on their farms because tea was the most profitable thing. Today, we are at crossroads, where tea is collapsing the way coffee has collapsed in this country. Today, we are producing only about 30 per cent of what we were producing in the 1970s. One wonders what magic is there in countries like Ethiopia and Rwanda that they are making money from coffee and tea yet Kenya is making none. When I talk of agriculture, we remember the pastoralists and their cattle. Meat from the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) used to be sold in Europe, whereas butter from this country used to be on the tables in London for breakfast. Mr. Speaker, Sir, today, we are looking at Kenya as a net importer of maize. We are looking at Kenya where you hear countries like Uganda are producing more coffee than Kenya. There is no complicated science. I call upon the Government to relook at the policies and implementation of various policies. They should not just have documents that are a good read, yet we are seeing the destruction of our institutions. The Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA) was set up as a small-scale farmers’ organization. It was set up after Independence because the big boys like Brooke Bond and others, had their space. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it ran as a profitable body but today, it is coupled with mismanagement, stealing and actual profiteering. There are people who do not own tea but they are some of the greatest sellers outside. You hear that during tea auction, there is a certain portion left and I do not know on what basis. A few companies or individuals are given the window to go and market that tea outside and pay the money after one year. These issues should be handled quickly. We have the Tea Bill in Parliament but some of the regulations do not need a Tea Bill. The Government can implement some polices immediately. Mr. Speaker, Sir, it is also at this point that I call our country to restart the ward system that we had and provide the farmer a guarantee; that any coffee, maize or livestock farmer should have a guarantee; that if drought came tomorrow and the crops or the animals were lost, there should be something paid as a minimum. Countries like USA are developed technologically. They have fantastic infrastructure and advanced technologically. Yesterday, they reported that a company may have come up with a vaccine for the dreaded COVID-19 Disease. Nevertheless, we The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}