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{
    "id": 114469,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/114469/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 258,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Prof. Olweny",
    "speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Education",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 122,
        "legal_name": "Patrick Ayiecho Olweny",
        "slug": "patrick-olweny"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, today the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water and Irrigation have done quite a bit in trying to improve on food insecurity and by boosting food production. But then the problem that has come up with regard to this is purchase of the food produce from farmers. I saw recently in newspapers reports that maize produced in Hola could not be purchased and is rotting in farmers’ granaries. It is very unfortunate to get into such a situation when the Government has done all its best to make farmers produce food. In my constituency, recently we produced a lot of rice. The National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) took our rice. However, up to today, farmers have not been paid. I wish to appeal to the Minister for Agriculture to try his best to get money from the Treasury and give it to the NCPB, so as to pay rice farmers and also buy maize that is lying in farmers’ stores in a place like Hola. Otherwise, why should the Government spend so much in importing and distributing fertilisers and seeds to farmers? At the end of it, we have a problem like we had with dairy farmers, who cannot sell their milk. They just dispose off their milk. It is very unfortunate; something needs to be done by the Treasury to help the Ministry to purchase the produce from the farmers. The Minister for Finance needs to wake up and help us in these issues. Also, the Minister for Agriculture and the Minister of State for Special Programmes could appeal to the World Food Program (WPF) to buy excess food produce from us, because the WFP needs food to distribute to places that need it, sometimes in Kenya and also in other countries. So, we need to appeal to our partners to buy from us food that we cannot buy."
}