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{
    "id": 1068975,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1068975/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 193,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ndwiga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 278,
        "legal_name": "Peter Njeru Ndwiga",
        "slug": "peter-ndwiga"
    },
    "content": "factories in coffee growing areas. However, that is the work of counties. That funding ought to be with counties and not at the headquarters. Crop development is also at the Ministry. That is improper because agriculture is a devolved function. Therefore, such finances ought to be with counties for them to improve extension services. This country is lagging behind in agriculture we lost extension services. Extension services are no longer in existence anywhere in this Republic. Without them, we cannot pretend to be an agricultural country. We may have the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization ( KALRO ) who develop new crops varieties, but who will teach farmers how to propagate the same? We want counties to get additional funding for them to establish proper extension services. Mr. Speaker, Sir, while growing up in Embu County where I come from, we used to see agricultural extension officers every week. They would come to inspect what we were doing to make sure we applied the correct fertilizer and the best pesticides. If you look at the graph, it is at that time when this country was at the peak of production. We did not even have a lot of land under coffee cultivation, but we would produce in excess of 140,000 metric tonnes of every year. Today, we are producing only 32,000 metric tonnes with all the expansion of coffee cultivation. Why? It is because many farmers have abandoned coffee farming. In very many places today, you will find coffee bush trees on farms that produce nothing. We are advocating for the 35 per cent increment to counties so that counties can engage in extension services. Mr. Speaker, Sir, our time is limited and other people would like to contribute to this Bill, which I support. I also urge Members to support it. Members of Parliament (MPs) sometimes forget and think what happened yesterday cannot happen tomorrow. In the days when we were in the opposition – I said this at the beginning – my county received less than Kshs15 million for development in 10 years. That is why I am solidly voting for this Bill. May I remind hon. Members that those years, we used to have a system where Ministers responded to questions in Parliament. Can you imagine you want something done by the Government and the CS tells you, they will do it when funds are available? At whose mercies are you left? Right now, we know funds that will come to counties and we will follow up to ensure proper utilization."
}