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{
    "id": 1278479,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1278479/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 198,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Emuhaya, ANC",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Omboko Milemba",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "How many times did we hear of fake fertiliser that led to crop failure? We also had fake seeds which also led to crop failure. With all these, farmers could not get value for their money. I want to believe that this Bill and the Office of Food and Feed Safety Controller will arraign the quality of inputs given to our farmers. The beef and milk producers were the most affected. How many times do we see farmers giving feeds that are of no nutritional value to their animals hence low yields? This has affected dairy farmers, beef farmers, and crop-producing farmers. We must seriously invest in food production. For this to happen, we must also have quality animal feeds and quality inputs for crop farmers to assure them of good harvest afterwards. Hon. Deputy Speaker, there was a Bill on pesticides in the last Parliament. Farmers do not have the right quality of inputs that will safeguard food production. Therefore, I fully support this Bill from an agricultural point of view so that we enhance our food production. I am happy that fertiliser is reaching remote constituencies. For the first time, it has reached the remote areas of Bunyore in Mulukhoro, Luanda, Emuhaya Constituency. Ordinarily, we would have to buy fertiliser from far away in Chavakali. This Bill should enforce the quality of fertiliser. Seeds and farm inputs must be genuine so that we increase food production. I need not belabour the point on the safety of foods that we produce right from the time we plant, process, and transport them. This may help in enhancing certain areas within the agricultural sector. Farmers who engage in floriculture and small-scale production of vegetables should have means of transportation, and should be helped to form associations, cooperatives, and other such organisations that will ensure the safety of foods that they transport and process. I look at the Office of Food and Feed Safety Controller as one that will enhance the agriculture sector, and not one that will simply arrest farmers who process foods incorrectly. Let them be capacitated to have correct inputs, and later be monitored on how they safely transport food. With those few remarks, I support the Bill."
}