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{
    "id": 1183483,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1183483/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 145,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tinderet, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Melly",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. First of all, I want to commend Hon. Wanyonyi for bringing up this Motion. This House dealt with such Motions in the last two Parliaments. I also want to bring to the attention of the House that at the end of this Motion, it will be proper that we develop laws and regulations that will actually put into action the resolutions of the House. I want to bring to the attention of the House that there was a time the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development had a soil sample bank. We also took what we call land bank. There were also many issues concerning land. One of the biggest problems facing this country is actually failure to implement the land laws. We have enough laws in this country that can enforce proper use of our land. Some of the best agricultural lands in the country are in Nandi, Uasin Gishu, Trans-Nzoia and Nakuru. At one time, this country was exporting wheat from Narok and many other parts of this country. However, these areas have been subdivided into plots. The land in some of these counties that used to be the breadbaskets has been subdivided into one-acre plots, quarter an acre or even half an acre which is uneconomical. It is my considered opinion that the Departmental Committee on Lands, Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, in consultation with the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, should sit down and actually give a very detailed plan on how we can consolidate and make use of very productive farms. As some Members have put it, there are certain individuals who own large tracts of land but they do not have economic use. I remember one time, certain members from Eastern Europe wanted to join the European Union (EU). Before they joined, they were supposed to meet certain conditions set by the EU. One of them was to consolidate their farms, reduce the number of farmers and make sure that everyone who calls himself a farmer is productive. Because people reside in the rural areas in this country, they call themselves farmers because they have their abodes or houses there. However, in the real sense, most of them buy unga, milk and vegetables and yet they have large tracts of land. It is therefore good that we sit down and have clear regulations for those who want to live in the villages and have productive use of land. Those who can live in urban centres and towns can buy the food from very progressive farmers very cheaply. Uasin Gishu County is known to be a very productive area for maize, wheat and milk. Because of poor land use and land tenure system, you can get somebody in the middle of a very productive land selling a quarter of an acre or half an acre, and yet the municipality has delineated boundaries. This is what the county governments need to do. If we do not take action, Trans-Nzoia, Uasin Gishu, Nakuru and Nandi counties will just be large slums. They will be completely overrun by individuals or land speculators. Very good counties such as Laikipia, Kajiado and Narok where we can do very good range farming will be lost to land speculators and unmanageable subdivision of land. We need to come out as a House and guide the nation on how to use our farms well. Otherwise, this is going to cause a crisis in future where the Government will have to import everything. We used not to import food from our neighbours but currently, Kenya is now a net market for the region in terms of maize, beans, onions, tomatoes and potatoes due improper use of land. Successive governments have tried to solve this issue but because land is an The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for informationpurposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}