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{
    "id": 1147465,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1147465/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 90,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ndwiga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 278,
        "legal_name": "Peter Njeru Ndwiga",
        "slug": "peter-ndwiga"
    },
    "content": "agency which is appointed by the farmer. This way, the farmer will be guaranteed that the proceeds they will get from their coffee is the actual they are entitled to. Currently, that is not the case. Today, a farmer will take their coffee to a miller who will instruct the farmer that they have many bags of AA or AB or PB and the miller will auction the coffee. The same marketing agent is the agent of the buyer. That is what has killed coffee farming in this country and driven the farmers out of their coffee farming. You will be shocked by the difference in amount of revenue between the coffee marketing when the coffee is taken to the auction and what they realise when they sell the coffee. The amount is three times what the farmer gets because the farmer is not involved in the eventual sale of their coffee. This is the mischief this Bill seeks to cure. I am shocked that when we started doing this Bill, we were moving extremely well even with the Ministry of Agriculture. Somewhere along the way, we parted ways. Where we agree is that we want to establish a coffee board which is being established by this Bill. This Bill is establishing a Coffee Research Institute, the way it used to be. If you remember, when I moved the Bill, I indicated that I did not want to go back to what happened when the board was revoked and all the functions taken to AFA. All issues related to crops were taken to AFA. That is where the management of coffee and most of other crops started to dwindle. This Bill seeks to establish a coffee board and a coffee research institute. Some of the amendments from the National Assembly which we do not agree with, is that we do not want to wish away the county governments. Agriculture is a wholly devolved function. It is inconceivable that you would have amendments that wish away our county governments. County governments are the ones that are in charge of cooperatives and crop development on the ground. I seek the House and the country to note, that whereas the National Assembly passes the National Budget and the Senate passes the County Allocation of Revenue Bill, the amount of money that remains with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, Fisheries and Cooperatives is what is causing mischief in our counties. There is so much money that remains with the Ministry and yet agriculture is a devolved function. That is why we are not developing at all. I do not want to go to other crops; I want to concentrate on coffee today because the amendments we have received from the National Assembly do not cure what we were expecting. I am surprised that through these amendments that the National Assembly has introduced into this Bill, they want to remove the benefits which we have gotten from coffee regulations. The President appointed the Coffee Commission which developed the regulations. Those regulations were brought to this House. Before they were brought to this House, my Committee engaged that Commission and went through them and we were satisfied they were good regulations. We invited all Senators and Members of Parliament from coffee growing areas. We sat for breakfast, went through those regulations and agreed on them."
}