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{
    "id": 103252,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/103252/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 271,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 148,
        "legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
        "slug": "eugene-wamalwa"
    },
    "content": "Thank you Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I beg to second this very important Motion by Mr. Kaino. Indeed, Kenya has been a blessed country. It has been blessed with very fertile land and rainfall. It is a country that has the capacity to feed all its citizens as well as export food to other countries. However, it is a matter of great irony that Kenya remains on the list of countries which are food insecure. Indeed, you will find that with the problems that we have been having, we have been forced to import food. We have countries like Malawi which were on the list of food insecure nations. But by getting their priorities right, they have turned around the agricultural sector in their country and they have now joined the ranks of nations that are food secure. They not only produce enough food to feed their citizens, but they export. Malawi is now exporting maize to other countries. Kenya has the potential and the capacity, but we have not strived to realize our full potential. When you look at the Kenya land mass, you will find out that 80 per cent of it is under arid and semi-arid lands. However, we have 20 per cent which produces almost 80 per cent of our food nationally. I am privileged to come from that part of Kenya which is the grain basket of this country. We know that there are other areas which have the potential. If we were to rely on rain-fed agriculture only, we would not realize our potential. Recently, we saw the plans that the Government has put in place to try to start programmes on irrigation. We saw the President, the Prime Minister, the Vice-President and Minister for Home Affairs and the then Minister for Agriculture visit Bura to launch the irrigation scheme there. We later saw the bumper harvest that was realized by the nation and by farmers in areas which had not produced maize before. In areas like Ukambani where we have always had inadequate rains, God opened the skies and we got a lot of rain. Today, people in Ukambani have more maize and they do not know what to do with it. The problem we have is that we are not putting the right priorities in place in terms of enhancing production. We have seen those priorities work. We have seen what was tried in Bura. We have seen the results. I think the test is now"
}