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{
    "id": 1255166,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1255166/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 393,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. M. Kajwang’",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13162,
        "legal_name": "Moses Otieno Kajwang'",
        "slug": "moses-otieno-kajwang"
    },
    "content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, I rise to support the Agricultural and Livestock Extension Services Bill brought before this House by Sen. Tabitha Mutinda. If there was ever any business for the Senate, then this is it. Agriculture is a devolved function and what remains at the national Government level is only policy. Execution, strategies and everything that brings fruition to our farmers is at the county governments. This is a Bill that touches the core mandate and nerve of the Senate. It is rather unfortunate that 10 years since devolution, we have not thought of a similar Bill. Indeed, what has happened in the 10 years since the onset of devolution is that the extension services have virtually disappeared. There are those that were raised in rural economies. Even though I went to school in towns, I spent my holidays in the rural areas. My father had the fortune of having cows. At regular intervals, we would see the cattle in our village being brought to one center and agricultural and livestock extension workers coming to administer oral and all sorts of medication to the cattle. In fact, even things such as branding were done by the extension workers. They would encourage that it was an important way of making sure that you were managing livestock as an asset, and also able to tell them apart from your neighbors so as to minimize conflict. We grew up knowing farmers needed to get support from the Government. That is the essence of extension workers. No one is born with knowledge of milking a cow. Someone will have to teach you. Humans only know how to milk their mothers. They do not know how to milk cows, sheep, camels and other animals. Someone must teach you that. No one is born with innate knowledge on how to rear chicken. In fact, if no one told you eggs are supposed to be eaten, you would probably never touch them because the chicken egg would not be any different to a snake egg. Someone must teach you that the snake egg is dangerous and a chicken egg is edible. Those of us who come from areas surrounding the lake sometimes come across crocodile eggs and we know and have been taught that it is for your own good not to touch them. Someone must teach you and this is where the extension workers come in. They are the ones who teach our farmers the best husbandry practices and that bees are not"
}