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{
"id": 1045073,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1045073/?format=api",
"text_counter": 404,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jnr.",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13156,
"legal_name": "Mutula Kilonzo Jnr",
"slug": "mutula-kilonzo-jnr"
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"content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Speaker. First of all, I want to thank Sen. Wambua for this Bill. It surprised me a little that he said The Cash Crops Act would ignore or leave out this very important crop called ndengu. I have now learnt that this very important crop called ndengu is also called mung bean. I did not know that. It is, indeed, a tragedy that the people of Kitui, Makueni, Meru, Embu and Tharaka-Nithi had a glut of this ndengu. I am glad that Sen. (Prof.) Kindiki is now here. I wanted to mention this when Sen. Wambua is listening. Last week, I had the privilege of meeting the Consular General in Dubai. This General planted a lot of mung beans, but when he discovered that the price was Kshs20 a kilo, he just ended up donating the ndengu to his family. It was such a waste, yet this crop, together with a crop we grow in the seasons in Ukambani that is famously known as nzuu, has a high nutritional value. This crop can withstand the vagaries of weather. You can keep it for a long time without necessarily using a lot of the pesticides. It is resistant. This crop can be used when we have drought. What surprised me at the time is that even when the governors pleaded with the national Government that this should be a strategic grain reserve - the national Government, for the purposes of food security, should in fact purchase this from farmers - it turned a blind eye. It is, therefore, not by surprise that Sen. Wambua, instead of proposing an amendment to the Cash Crops Act or the Crops Act, proposed that we have a separate piece of legislation. Let me pose this question to the Senators. Does it surprise my dear colleagues that we put so much emphasis on a crop called miraa, and I have nothing against miraa, that we have allowed it to be exported? Miraa farmers are billionaires and it does not contribute to food security. Madam Temporary Speaker, would it surprise you that Emirates Airlines flies to Eldoret to collect flowers that are going to Amsterdam, Lilongwe and other destinations in Europe? The people who are growing flowers in Kenya are billionaires. Would it surprise you that a majority of the people who are growing tea are billionaires? All these, be it flowers or tea, are not contributing to food security. However, there is some emphasis that has been put on these crops such that a few Kenyans are making money. Nevertheless, the ones who would contribute to food security, like the ones who are growing ndengu, are ignored. This crop grows quickly and is so nutritious. It gives me heartburns, but I still consume it because I enjoy it. Madam Temporary Speaker, the ordinary coffee, livestock and soya bean farmers are poor. Sen. Wambua is here, and I want to inform him that Safaricom introduced something called DigiFarm. DigiFarm is supposed to be a platform where you can have coffee, tea, ndengu and miraa farmers learn from whatever location they are, so that Safaricom can offer money to them. This is something that ideally the Government should be doing; to offer seed, insecticides and farm inputs. Safaricom came up with that scheme. These are people who are doing this for profit. How much more should the Government do? The Government should care for its people. They should do the same for the people who are growing"
}