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{
    "id": 1111417,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1111417/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 134,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Mbito",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13225,
        "legal_name": "Michael Maling'a Mbito",
        "slug": "michael-malinga-mbito"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Speaker, Sir, I rise pursuant to Standing Order No.47(1) to request a Statement on an issue of general topical concern, namely concrete plans to address recurrent hunger in the country. As you are, Kenya like other parts of sub-Saharan Africa is suffering from the devastating impact of drought. According the Red Cross report, 2.1 million Kenyans are experiencing hunger and water scarcity as a result. The affected people have their dignity stripped away as they walk for long distances and queue for hours for relief food. The cyclic phenomenon of drought is exacerbated by the ongoing global climate crisis. The President recently declared the drought a national disaster and instructed the National Treasury to release Kshs2 billion to provide relief food and other emergency support to the affected families. The Meteorological Department has also forecast that the October to December short-rain season will be characterized by scarce rainfall, which is likely to cause even more food shortage in the coming year. This situation demands a paradigm shift in tackling hunger and drought in this country. The Government must therefore, shift the focus from emergency interventions to those that build the resilience of communities to adapt to extreme weather events orchestrated by climate variability. The Ministry of Devolution and the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA) should ensure that strategic measures like repairing and servicing strategic boreholes, wells and water pipes are timely. The Kshs2 billion allocation for relief food and other emergency support should have been more than sufficient for restoring old boreholes and wells long before the drought, thereby averting hunger and the unnecessary deaths and loss of livestock. Further, to enable smallholder farmers to produce locally relevant food, oppressive laws like the Seed and Plant Varieties Act, 2012, should be relooked and amended to allow them to sell and share their own indigenous seeds. Smallholder farmers who produce 75 per cent of the food consumed in the country should be empowered to embrace traditional seeds, which have crucial genetic compositions, hence resistant to heat, drought, pests and diseases, helping in climate change adaptation."
}