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{
    "id": 1257764,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1257764/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 215,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Prof.) Kamar",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 33,
        "legal_name": "Margaret Jepkoech Kamar",
        "slug": "margaret-kamar"
    },
    "content": "I know the Bill has provided for use of the same beans in our school feeding programmes. However, the money maker is going to be export of these beans. This will be very important for us because before anybody exports any crop to us, we will also tell them what we have for exports. This will be good. Seed breeding is going to be prime. Hybrids will be grown all over. The standards of packaging will be very high, so that we can sell them anywhere, as I had mentioned earlier on. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, one other aspect of this Bill that is very important is the registration. We debated it last time and asked the Senator why he wanted growers to be registered, only for us to start registering maize farmers the next year. I figured out that he already had a vision ahead of all of us. He knew that registration of farmers is very important. I am now starting to understand why registration is very important even as we register farmers of all crops. It is very important that they are not only registered because of the inputs that the Government subsidizes at various points, but so that we know who owns what. Again, there is another registration of the marketers and processors that is provided for by this Bill that is very important. People from Mt. Kenya region will tell you that coffee has become another nightmare. Unless we identify who owns coffee, you will find out that everybody sells coffee. This is why registration is very important. We want to avoid middlemen who take advantage of farmers. If we know the owner and marketeer, then it is very easy for us to standardize not only the selling price, but also to ensure that our farmers make profit. It is important, as it is now in the coffee sector, that we must register the farmers, factories and marketeers, so that we are able to take care of this. That was one of the issues Sen. Wambua was able to articulate to us. It is very important to recognize who the farmer is. I laud him for that. We should limit brokers. They have destroyed the agricultural sector. Agriculture has a very low margin. If you have marketeers and brokers coming in, then the person who wins in most cases is not the farmer. It is always the middleman who wants to broker everything. Sometimes you will find out that these same marketeers will be mixing the produce of Kenya and products of another country in order to make their margins. I support the approach that has been done. Mr. Temporary, Speaker, Sir, the other area that I want to touch on, since I want to be very brief, is on coordinated implementation of the national and county policies on regulation. We know that agriculture is devolved. There is a problem currently with the agricultural products. I live on the border of Elgeyo-Marakwet and Uasin Gishu Counties. It is amazing that Uasin Gishu and Elgeyo-Marakwet Counties have their own regulations at the county level. There is a tax that is implemented before anything exits Elgeyo-Marakwet and similarly when it enters Uasin Gishu. There is also another one when entering the market place for fresh produce. Therefore, there is need to harmonize regulations and ensure that there is a flow that will retain the profits with the farmers."
}