Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1046778,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1046778/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 233,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "North Imenti, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Rahim Dawood",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2572,
        "legal_name": "Abdul Rahim Dawood",
        "slug": "abdul-rahim-dawood"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker. First, I want to congratulate Mhe. Tandaza for bringing a Bill that will put Bixa Orellana into the crops schedule. A couple of years back, as Meru legislators, we got Miraa put into the crops schedule. I would just want to correct my friend, Mhe. Owen Baya that cashewnut is already part of the First Schedule. Even though it is in Part III, it is part of the First Schedule because it is a crop which does not need breeding. So, it is part of the First Schedule. I want to say to Mhe. Tandaza that the Government of Kenya is working on a programme to do value-addition to all products. We have done the Tea Bill. We are going to do the Coffee Bill, and there is no stopping. Like Mhe . Owen Baya has said, the Government has not looked at some things. It is for the Coast people and their legislators to bring it to the Floor of the House and lobby so that we can get more. Where Bixa Orellana is grown is where my father was born. He was born in Lamu within the defunct Coast Province. That is where we come from. It is the backbone of the economy there. We, as legislators, need to assist each other so that we uplift the standards of living of our people. I do not think there is any reason for the Government, once this is passed as a scheduled crop, not to assist in the development of that crop tomorrow, if the budget provisions permit. The Government will assist, just like what has been done with the Miraa crop. Right now, there are many problems because of the markets and all that, but the Government is doing what it can for now. I believe, with the capabilities of Hon. Munya, who is the CS for the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Co-operatives, we can move mountains. It is because he is a CS who believes in action. We have seen it in the tea sector. We are seeing it in the coffee sector and, hopefully, we are going to see it even in the sugar-cane sector. So, Mheshimiwa, I join you and say that we will all support this Bill. Bixa Orellana should be one of the cash crops. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker."
}