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{
    "id": 1251043,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1251043/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 363,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Oburu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 194,
        "legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
        "slug": "oburu-odinga"
    },
    "content": "What is more important as far as I am concerned is, the employment of agricultural extension officers by the county governments. These officers need to be employed by the Government and they need to offer services to the people down there free of charge. This is because our people are poor and cannot afford payment for these services. Madam, Sen. Tabitha Mutinda, I hope you will take that into consideration. I can see you have emphasised more on the Board but not the role of the counties and yet agriculture is devolved. You have even put the role of the counties last as miscellaneous provision. You have even put it last. That is where you have said that the counties should be offering licensing. Licensing to people who are going to be charging farmers monies which farmers do not have? I do not think licensing is going to fundamentally resolve the issue of agricultural extension. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we need agricultural extension because science is also in agriculture and it is now developing with a lot of research. It is advising on the improvement of seeds and even on the insemination services. Some of them are rotting on the shelves of research institutions because there is no proper agricultural extension to take them down to the farmer who needs them. We really need agricultural extension and take it seriously. It also must go to the grassroot. We must take it to where it belongs and that is the counties. The counties must employ agricultural extension officers so that they can offer that service to the people. Take the scientific research on quality, which has made a lot of progress in all these areas. Remove them from the shelves and let them go down to the people. This is so that the people who need them can utilise them to increase productivity and be self- sufficient both in food production and also get excess which they can sell to improve their standards of living. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I do not want to say much more than this. Sen. Tabitha Mutinda, I really like you. First, apart from being beautiful, you are also very clever upstairs and I really respect that. Thank you, very much for bringing this Bill and I hope you will take it further. Thank you."
}