HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept
{
"id": 103253,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/103253/?format=api",
"text_counter": 272,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Wamalwa",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 148,
"legal_name": "Eugene Ludovic Wamalwa",
"slug": "eugene-wamalwa"
},
"content": "when we have so much food - a bumper harvest - and we do not know what to do with it. Today as we speak, we have heard sad tales from the people in Ukambani who have had more food than they could store. The Government did nothing to step in and help those farmers to take their crop at the right time, help them dry their maize and pay them for their labour. Indeed, farmers are trying to squeeze their bumper harvest into small stores. As a result of the moisture and poor storage facilities, aflatoxins have set in. The food that should have been a great blessing to this nation and, particularly, to the people of Eastern and Coast provinces has now turned into a nightmare. We are asking that even as we put down structures such as the ones hon. Boaz Kaino has proposed, the Government must put in place programmes to handle bumper harvests and ensure that we have driers in areas where, through irrigation, we realize bumper harvests. We should develop capacity to handle that grain. I was saddened to hear that, after the situation got out of hand, the Government has now raised Kshs3 billion. They are ready to start paying Kshs1,000 for the spoiled maize and Kshs1,500 for a one 90 kilogrammes bag of good maize. However, what we are asking is: Where was that money before? Why did the Government not give money to National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) in good time so that they could take that maize? Why did the Government not purchase driers? We know that one unit of a drier is about Kshs35 million. If we were able to purchase, from the Kshs3 billion, mobile driers and send them to Ukambani--- One drier can dry 500 bags of maize in a day. If we could send those driers to one location in Ukambani, we would have saved hundreds of bags of maize. If we had sent the driers to Bura, we could have helped the farmers dry their maize. The Government had promised that, indeed, it would pay Kshs2,300 per bag of maize. If they had used part of that, let us say Kshs100 or Kshs200 to purchase driers and gave farmers in those areas Kshs2,000, first of all, it would boost the morale of the farmers. If we are serious about fighting food insecurity, we must have foot soldiers that will fight that food insecurity. Those foot soldiers are the farmers who have tried very hard in Ukambani, Bura and Hola. Previously, they had never produced that kind of maize. However, what have we done to them? Have we rewarded them for their labour? Have we, as a country, congratulated them for working hard to make sure that this nation realizes national food security? No! Instead we are telling them that we will only pay them Kshs1,000 for their maize. The Government should give us a focus on what is coming. If we plant properly and irrigate some parts of this country that have less rains, we can produce enough food. However, when this food is produced, what do we do with it? We have National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). I am told - and I am happy that the Minister for Agriculture is here - that in Ukambani, we have some NCPB silos which have no driers. When you look for driers, you are told that they are in Nakuru, Eldoret, Moiâs Bridge and Kitale. That is because those silos were only meant for the storage of relief food. Now that those areas are producing food, we should no longer be talking about relief food. We should have driers to handle bumper harvests like the one we have realized in Ukambani and in Bura. If we can have those driers, it will help. As I have suggested, apart from installing driers in those regions, we can have mobile driers in areas that have not been realizing bumper harvests. If only we did that, Kenya could join the ranks of nations that are food"
}