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"id": 132326,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "August 20, 2009 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 2862 Mr. Letimalo",
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"content": "Thank you Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. I would like to start by thanking the Minister and the entire team for making sure that Kenyans are not going to starve during scarcity of food and ensuring that Kenya is going to be food secure. I also wish to thank the Minister for being accessible any time we want to consult him. We really appreciate that. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I represent Samburu East Constituency which is a semi arid area. Our main economic activity is livestock keeping. However, that does not necessarily mean that there is no agricultural activity that can be undertaken in that area. I wish to inform the Minister that the Alovera plant does well. I have seen people taking initiative of growing this plant. I wish that the Ministry could pursue it and facilitate the interested groups, so that they can also make a living out of it. Fruit crops also do well in this area. I believe that they do well because Catholic Missionaries have been growing fruits in their areas and supplying them to the schools that they sponsor. I believe if the Ministry could support those who are interested in growing fruits, that would go a long way in assisting those people who entirely depend on livestock. That includes other drought escaping crops that would take between a month or three months, so that people do not rely on animals and animal products. I agree with the issue of organizing field days as a learning resource because that is one way of creating awareness and educating our farmers. I believe that extension officers, who have been posted there, should not give an excuse that the area is dry and, therefore, there is no crop that they can grow or concentrate on dealing with the 4K Clubs. If they organized field days, they would educate people, so that they can diversify their crops. Lastly, I want to request the Ministry to open a National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) branch in Wamba. This is one area where there is food insecurity. Our traders procure foods either from Nyahururu or Meru. When the Government made an intervention by subsidizing cereals, we did not benefit because the traders had to cover transport costs. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}