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{
    "id": 1292069,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1292069/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 187,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Oburu",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 194,
        "legal_name": "Oburu Ngona Odinga",
        "slug": "oburu-odinga"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir. My comments regard the Statement sought by the Senator for Trans Nzoia County, Sen. Chesang, regarding the maize dryers. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, you remember, when the fertilisers subsidy programme was introduced, some of us expressed concern that subsidising fertiliser alone will not lower the price of food in this country. We said this because farming is a process. It involves many things including fertiliser, land preparation, harvesting and post-harvest loses. When we only subsidise fertiliser and the fuel prices went to the roof, this means that the cost of land preparation went up. When the cost of land preparation went up, the farmers cannot sell their maize cheaply. I have heard our colleagues saying that the price of maize should not be less that Kshs5,000. If the price of maize will not be less than Kshs5,000, it means, food prices will not go down. Mr. Temporary Speaker, sir, the only thing which the Government should do is to accept to subsidise consumption. This is so that the Government buys from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) stores at that high price, which the farmers are rightfully demanding and then sell it a little cheaply to the millers. The millers can then sell unga at a cheaper price to the consumers. If we do not do that, there is no way we are going to reduce the price of food. Farmers will not sell their produce cheaply because they did not produce it cheaply. If they did not produce is cheaply, how can they sell it cheaply? If they do not sell it cheaply, how is the price of unga going to go down? This is a dilemma which the Government must resolve. They must go back on their word. They must subsidise food and consumption so that the wananchi can benefit from the subsidised fertilizer. In future, we also have to go to the subsidy of the fuel prices so that farmers can produce food cheaply."
}