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{
    "id": 103289,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/103289/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 308,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Njuguna",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 20,
        "legal_name": "Peter Njuguna Gitau",
        "slug": "peter-gitau"
    },
    "content": "I also think that with food production adequate for domestic consumption and export, this nation would have become vibrant in terms of stability. Look at what happens in China which is the most populous country on this planet and it is able to feed its people. It is also able to export its own technological knowledge to other countries. Therefore, food production is very important. We should also remember that those nations that have invested heavily in agriculture and food production have been able to benefit their communities and others nations that are not proactive. Look at what happens in Sudan. The Sudanese export rice. Look at Egypt again. Rice, maize and even sugar--- We import sugar from this country. Their main water resource is the Nile water which is our resource. We should use it for the betterment of the life of the people in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it is important that this nation must be driven to achieve greater heights in terms of wealth, prosperity and even happiness for our people. This cannot happen unless the nation changes its policy to think in terms of reducing poverty in this country. In 1963, the nation had about six million people, but today we are talking about more than 40 million people and yet capacity in food production has not been improved. Therefore, it is important that food must be increased in this nation. You will recall that in 2009, this House requested the Departmental Committee on Education, Research and Technology to move out and find out what was causing strikes in our schools. Some of the schools that we visited went on strike because the students did not get enough food. Therefore, food is very important. If we had adequate food in this nation, learning in our institutions would be very productive. Even our patients should get enough food when they go to hospitals. Our nation is starved in those areas. If we had enough food, generally, the standards of leaving would greatly improve. We cannot also forget that recently when we were faced with drought in this nation, the cost of food went up beyond the reach of poor people. These people were really affected by this situation. We can see what is happening in this nation. If you look at this nation, you will find that the vulnerable groups which are starved are the groups that are affected in this area. If you look at the people who kidnap our innocent children, you will find that they are people who should have been employed in irrigation schemes if they were there. Therefore, it is important that we invest heavily in establishing irrigation schemes. I am confident that the new Minister for Agriculture will request for more funds so that irrigation schemes could be created particularly, in North Eastern Province which occupies about 22 per cent of the land mass of this country. We can establish industries there. We can also establish small industries in the rest of the country. I recall that in my constituency, Lari, we have a huge semi-arid area and we have many idle people there. If only we could have some boreholes, and I hope the Minister for Water and Irrigation is keenly listening to my contribution so that next time she makes allocation, Lari District will be captured. We could create employment for our people. It is very sad that we have been unable to raise the Strategic National Grain Reserve (SNGR) in this nation. Since 1963 we have been talking about 2.5 million bags. This is the time to improve the SNGR from 2.5 million bags to more than 10 million bags so that this nation will not continue begging or looking for contaminated foods from other countries. The best fruits that we are eating today are imported from Israel and it is a very"
}