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{
    "id": 1242822,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1242822/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 304,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Maanzo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13589,
        "legal_name": "Maanzo Daniel Kitonga",
        "slug": "maanzo-daniel-kitonga"
    },
    "content": "The problem has been how the country has handled this crop. Firstly, it is lumped in the Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA). That is why we want to have a new law. It has come out clearly from the discussions that have gone on in this House that we will have many amendments during the Committee of the Whole. When you look at the history of cotton in the world, it has been grown in America. The African slaves used to grow cotton. It has also been used to make clothes which is a basic need. It is therefore highly needed. Unfortunately, it has been infested by cartels worldwide, such that, few people want to own it and then release it when they feel the prices favour them. We have now the Bt cotton seeds for farmers to grow in the country. They have been approved through a Presidential Order when Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO) products were allowed in the country. The problem with GMO products is that when you plant the tree, you have to look for a seed the next day. Every other time, you go to buy seeds from the company manufacturing those seeds. Right now, there is only one dealer in Kenya and a kilogram of the cotton seeds is going for Kshs4,000 that must be paid for in US dollar. We need millions of kilos to give farmers. Therefore, it will cost Kenyans billions of shillings if we are to go the Bt Cotton way. During our tour, we met Kenyans who are passionate about cotton. The current seed we have can be improved the same way the mango seed was improved. We now have better mangoes. We can improve the current seed we have through research, so that every time we gin, we do not throw away the seeds. Instead, they are taken back to the farmers for planting. In Uganda, a kilo of cotton is bought at about Kshs100 but in Kenya, it is Kshs52. Kenyans at the border prefer to sell their cotton in Uganda than to the ginners in Kenya. Some of the people doing the ginning have private companies. There is a monopoly on where you can supply but farmers should be free. The price keeps being regulated by a few individuals. The question is; what is the benefit to a farmer? A farmer puts a lot of input and, eventually, ends up in a lot of trouble by failing to recover what they spend. One way that the Government can help the farmer is to supply the seeds. In Tanzania, the Government gives farmers the seeds and the inputs such as herbicides and pesticides. It also buys from the farmers. They also deal with other processes such as value addition. In India, some of the by-products of the Bt Cotton are food for animals and biodiesel. There are quite a number of products such that you end up utilizing 99 per cent and lose only 1 per cent of the cotton plant. In India, when the cakes were given to cows, which is a serious matter in the Indian culture, they had diarrhea resulting to death. There was more research and many farmers came up with a better seed that Bt Cotton. It is not that Bt Cotton is perfect. In fact, it needs a lot of herbicides and sprays. That means it is very expensive. Kenya is not helping any farmer as it is the case of"
}