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{
    "id": 1242253,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1242253/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 943,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Okiya Omtatah",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "We are talking of the AGOA. Right now, the Chinese have simply shifted shop to Kenya to avoid the sanctions in their own countries. They are using cotton from elsewhere to make use of Kenya’s share of the AGOA Protocol. If we grew our own cotton and serviced these industries, we stand to make a lot of money out of them. Although agriculture is devolved, the national Government has a major role in terms of policy to ensure that the cotton industry thrives. The Government must come up with measures, including subsidies to protect producers and stimulate cotton growing by insulating it from whatever factors that are playing out in the global scene. This is because globally, cotton is also a political crop whereby rich countries subsidies their produces to even produce uneconomically, but make sure they secure their own textile industries. A fact that has to be addressed that led to the killing of cotton is the low price of cotton. Right now, cotton has very low prices in Kenya compared to neighbouring countries such as Uganda where it is double of what we are getting in Kenya. The Government needs to look into that and ensure that the primary producer is protected. They should force part of the profits made in the value chain by intermediaries and others who come in at later stage, are shared downstream or upstream. I do not know which is which. I think it is upstream with the producers. We also have a problem with the cost of Bt seed. The Government in terms of research; which is a mandate of the national Government, should revive the likes of the Cotton Research Centre in Kisumu to be able to come up with our own seed varieties like India has done. This is so that we do not rely on the likes of Monsanto. I am informed that a kilogramme of Bt seed is about Kshs4,000 and you can only buy it in United States of America (USA) dollars and on order. How can that revive our cotton industry? If we are going to look for those kinds of seeds, let us develop our own. That calls for serious investment by the national Government in research and development. This will take a forefront in reviving the cotton industry. We must carry out research, develop our own varieties and propagate them to the farmer."
}