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{
    "id": 1147463,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1147463/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 88,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ndwiga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 278,
        "legal_name": "Peter Njeru Ndwiga",
        "slug": "peter-ndwiga"
    },
    "content": "THAT pursuant to Standing Order 159, the amendments of the National Assembly to the Coffee Bill (Senate Bills No. 22 of 2020) be now considered. First, I thank the Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries for the diligent work they have done in considering these amendments. Secondly, I thank the stakeholders both farmers and others who gave us important input while considering the amendments to the Bill. When I moved this Bill I enumerated the problems of coffee farmers, the history of coffee farming and why the Senate found it necessary to introduce a Bill in this House. The main reason was to alleviate the problems that coffee farmers in this country go through, particularly the peasant coffee farmers. We do not agree with the amendments from the National Assembly. The problem is that we cannot agree with some and disagree with others. It is either we agree or disagree with all of the amendments. This is the unfortunate bit. We may agree with quite a number of amendments they have brought. However, the Committee found that we cannot agree with them the key amendments they have brought, because they kill the spirit of this Bill. We brought this Bill to this House which was considered and passed unanimously. This was because in the wisdom of the Members, the Bill address the core problem of coffee farming in this country. You will remember that this House featured and indicated that since Independence, we have never got ourselves out of the yoke of colonialism in some sectors, especially the coffee sector. We have done well in many areas, including in the coffee sector. However, the farmer has been held captive by marketers; by people who control their coffee beyond where they can intervene. In the coffee sector, once the coffee leaves the farmer’s farm, it goes to their cooperative society. From their cooperative society, the coffee, which at that point is called parchment goes to a miller who is licensed currently by the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) and it is milled. After the coffee is milled, it is taken to the auction. Coffee grades which are taken to the auction are realized at the milling. The farmer has no way of knowing what kind of grades his coffee has realized until they are told by the millers. The mischief in the coffee industry in this country has been that the same miller has also been the marketer. The same miller holds two licenses - marketing and milling. The mischief has been that it is only the miller who knows the grades of the coffee that they are taking to the auction. The farmer does not know. The only information farmers have is what they have been given by the millers. When the coffee goes to the auction, the same miller who has another license called the marketing license is the one who goes to market this coffee. To cure this mischief, we introduced a Direct Payment System (DSS) in the Bill we passed in this House. Once the cooperative or the farmer takes their coffee to the miller, it still belongs to them. They can pick their coffee and take it to the auction themselves or through an"
}