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{
    "id": 1273046,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1273046/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 263,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mithika Linturi",
    "speaker_title": "The Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 69,
        "legal_name": "Franklin Mithika Linturi",
        "slug": "franklin-linturi"
    },
    "content": " Hon. Mukunji, I said I had licensed nine companies, not five. I am in consultation so that I get their full names. I do not want to mislead the House. However, I am sure they are nine. If I were to mention them, I would only remember some off head. We will be sharing the information and names with you. I have licensed nine companies. When this Parliament, in its wisdom, passed the Agriculture and Food Act and collapsed most of our crops into that institution, it established many directorates within AFA. There is coffee, oil and nuts, cotton, and fibre. There is a feeling that many things have not been done right before. Up to now, I have not been able to understand whether it was by design or default. The AFA operated without a board and a Managing Director (MD) for eight years. Policy direction on promoting and regulating all crops within AFA was a big problem. My immediate understanding of the importance of these crops to our economy and the people of Kenya was to form the Board of AFA less than two months ago. In the two months, members have moved up and down, trying their best to come up with regulations. I will seek the indulgence of members. The directorates in charge of oil and nuts, cotton, and fibre are being worked on. It has not been that easy, but we will address these challenges. I promise we will do this since they have timelines, just like we have timelines to address the sugar issue. They have also been working on it. It will not take me more than 30 to 45 days to come up with a way forward on all these. On the issue of millet and sorghum, we are also trying to promote these crops within the Ministry. I invite you to appreciate the importance of millet and sorghum. In one of the greatest conferences in the world, the India-Africa International Millet Conference, we lobbied to have it hosted in Kenya at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre from 30th to 31st August 2023. Twenty-five First Ladies of the World are going to grace this conference. We are asking growers of different millet types to participate because we want to promote this crop. That demonstrates how serious we are getting to address farmers' issues. Hon. Mukunji, for the avoidance of any doubt, the companies we have licensed are Fair Nuts, Nice Mart Traders, Exotic, Nutri Nuts, Super Tropical Fruits and Nuts, Eden Swing Traders, OCM Consulting, Lenana Processes and Kamili Packers. We licensed those companies upon application for the export of in-shell macadamia so that they offload to the world market the macadamia. They must raise enough capital to purchase macadamia at Ksh100 and above. This was the agreement. Once they are done, I expect the prices of macadamia to rise."
}