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{
    "id": 1057827,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1057827/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 30,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Khaniri",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 171,
        "legal_name": "George Munyasa Khaniri",
        "slug": "george-khaniri"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, COVID-19 came with numerous challenges. As it continues to affect us, as a country, it is difficult to know the extent of its impact on food production and distribution systems. Kenya relies heavily on maize, wheat, rice and Irish potatoes for food. It is estimated that the country imports about 90 per cent of the total rice demand and about 75 per cent of the total wheat demand. The rest is produced locally with only about 10 per cent of the total maize demand being imported. However, even before the COVID-19 pandemic knocked on our doors the country was facing struggles with food production and distribution. Vast and devastating swarms of desert locusts started arriving in the country and by March 2020, the Food and Agriculture Organization categorized the threat to the country as dangerous because the locusts continued to breed and form new swarms. Before the locust constraints caused by excessive rainfall experience from October, 2019, this destroyed about 10,000 hectares of crop land and post-harvest losses were higher than usual, because grain did not dry adequately in the wet weather. This is the context in which the first case of COVID-19 was announced in March, 2020, and it came with many challenges and administrative measures imposed such as curfews, travel bans and closure of markets. This caused a lot of disruption in the food sector. Kenya’s food system is heavily dominated by small independent transporters as the link between producers and consumers. Produce markets which are at the heart of distribution in urban areas, serve consumers and smaller retailers. This traditional informal system accounts for about 90 per cent of the markets. The closure of these markets in the urban and peri-urban areas was a reasonable measure The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}