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{
    "id": 1251053,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1251053/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 373,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Beth Syengo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "services seriously. Extension services help improve the agricultural productivity through providing farmers with information that helps them optimize their use even with limited resources. It is important that we reach farmers at the grassroots. Having extension officers is a way of devolving services to reach the farmers who may not travel to look for services further from their villages. Having extension services is like devolving services to the farmers. This will help in variation in management practices and husbandry skills amongst small-scale farmers in Kenya. This is very key. I congratulate my sister again for this Bill. While growing up, it was a common practice to see extension officers coming to our homes to guide us on the methods of farming to apply. I come from a very dry place and we do not have reliable rainfall. It is therefore important for farmers to be guided on which farming methods to use and how to use the little resources that they have for optimum productivity. Though I was young, I remember farming systems that were established in 1982. Allow me to mention a few of them. Use of rapid rural appraisal, which was very key, Participatory rural approach (PRA), focal area development approach and the farmers’ field schools which were very important. It is only with the use of extension services that these farming systems can be applied and used to ensure there is an impact on the lives of farmers and the productivity of our agricultural produce. This Bill has come at the right time. I hope it will go through because we are supporting it. Once it becomes law, then we are going to improve our agricultural productivity. I know those in Government will say it is their agenda, but it is the agenda of the entire country that we feed our population. It is the duty of any Government to feed its population. Mr. Temporary Speaker, the use of agricultural extension services will encourage young minds to embrace farming. The rate of unemployment in the country is very high and we may not be able to get white-collar jobs for every young person growing up. If our people are encouraged to do farming in the right way, they will embrace it, know it is a source of income and take it as a source of employment. When we leave it to the outgoing generation, the old people, and the young people are not involved, we are doing a disservice to our country. At one point before I joined this House, I was working with a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) and I partnered with a food and agricultural organisation. There was a program where we were establishing school gardens in primary and secondary schools where we intended to involve the pupils and students in farming so that they can embrace it and not see it as a dirty thing or a job for the uneducated and unlearned. Rather, to see it as a job or activity that can earn someone a living and get involved in agri-business, therefore living better lives. It is very important that we all support this Bill although there are areas that I would request my sister to look at and bring amendments. As my colleagues have stated, these agricultural extension officers are not employed. They are only given a retainer and charge farmers a fee when they come around. Due to the poverty index in our country, most of our farmers may not have money to pay them. That is why they cannot consult"
}