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{
    "id": 1179892,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1179892/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 298,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orwoba",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for this time. I feel that I have to contribute to this Motion as I support it because there is an element we are not highlighting with regard to the food security situation in this country. We are talking about water and ways to mitigate the drought, but we are not talking about the agencies and institutions that the Government has put together to ensure they address this kind of situation. I put the spotlight on the Vision 2030 organization. That institution sat down and came up with proper blue prints on economic, social and political developments. In those blue prints under economic development, they also focussed on food security. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, in their report which was churned out around 15 years ago, they had advised the Government on what to do in a couple of years. They talked about on how to increase our agricultural productivity. They put out objectives and goals which, included ensuring there were thousands of acres dedicated to large-scale farming. There was even an advisory to the Government to identify certain regions where land was lying idle and could be put up for agricultural projects. This was to ensure that we do not push the productivity of our small-scale farmers, but to also ensure that we were going towards the direction of large-scale farming. The issue of food security is just about productivity. As a country we are either going to agree to be producers or importers of agricultural produce. We need to decide. If we are not interested in large scale farming and intentionally approaching this food security matter in a form of productivity, we might as well focus on oil, ports and other economic activities. When we get that money, we can import food."
}