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{
    "id": 1049214,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1049214/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 234,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwingi West, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Charles Nguna",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13445,
        "legal_name": "Charles Ngusya Nguna",
        "slug": "charles-ngusya-nguna"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the chance you have given to me. I will be very brief because I understand many Members want to contribute to this Bill. Allow me to thank Hon. Tandaza for bringing this Bill to the House. It has come to my attention that a majority of Kenyans do not know what Bixa crop is. I have seen it in many places at the Coast, especially in Kilifi, but I have never known its economic importance. Two of the President’s Big Four Agenda are food security and manufacturing. The Bixa crop implements the two agenda of food production and manufacturing. We are talking of a crop that is drought-resistant. You will agree with me that in the advent of global warming, rains have become very unpredictable. We need to invest more in drought-resistant crops. Bixa is one of them. I challenge the Ministry of Agriculture to list more of such crops to bring economic benefits to our country. #A lot of crop failures have been attributed to pests and diseases. Bixa is disease free and pest free. You only need to weed it. So, this is one of the key crops that can contribute towards food security and many aspects of manufacturing. It is high time we revived the percentage the agriculture sector contributes to our economy. I have heard of 28 per cent and 30 per cent, but it is high time the State clarified on the percentage contribution of agriculture to the economy. Once the Bixa seed is extracted, I have just learnt the waste produces fertiliser, one of the key economic benefits. Two, I have learnt that the Bixa crop is used in food colouring, especially at the Coast and many other countries in the world. For example, China conducted a lot of research on this crop last year. If at all we are serious with this crop, we need to invest a lot in its research. In the cosmetic industry, we heavily depend on the Western world to come up with cosmetic products. If this crop is nurtured and proper legislation is enacted, we can grow the cosmetic industry in the country. With the advent of climate change, we need to invest in agricultural research. There are a lot of mangoes in my constituency, especially in the month of February. There are many mango trees. A lot of things are happening now. There is a lot of waste. We need to invest in storage facilities. We may produce a lot even if Bixa is planted in large scale. What happens if we produce a lot and we do not have storage facilities? We will not achieve the main objective of developing this crop. We have legislated on many things and emphasised the importance of research. Bamboo is one of the common plants we have discussed. I am a big beneficiary of cotton because my grandfather used to grow it. I no longer see it in Ukambani. We need to reinvest in research. There is a lot of laxity in the Ministry responsible for agriculture. They should do away with laxity and come up with all schedules of crops which can benefit our economy. Marketing is another aspect. We do a lot of production. We produce a lot of coffee, tea and many other crops, which we export. We are facing serious competition from across the globe. We need to do proper marketing. We must ensure that once we legislate and pass Bills like this once, our crops are not phased out of the markets by our competitors from other countries. With those few remarks, I support."
}