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{
"id": 1371230,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1371230/?format=api",
"text_counter": 223,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13582,
"legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
"slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
},
"content": "When that money is eventually paid, the farmer has no choice on whether it is paid in dollars, Kenya Shillings or Indian Rupees, for that matter. That is why this Bill is before us. This Bill attempts to cure the opaqueness of the market, where the farmers and the consumers cannot come together. I am happy to report to this House that when I went to Colombia with the Deputy President to explore the models that they use there, we learnt that most of the people in their coffee industry are young, educated and highly informed. The coffee farmers there run very effective cooperative societies because theirs is formed based on a willing seller and a willing buyer. We also want to bring agribusiness in this country into the hands of the young people. The Kenyan population is getting younger by the day. The farmers who are still very conservative hold onto old practices and own the coffee farms. Moving forward, we want to ensure that the younger generation takes up farming as an option. That is why we are talking about agribusiness and the young generation. The only way we can do that is by ensuring that coffee farming becomes attractive to the young people with good returns. Most importantly, when farmers know when they can get their returns, they can plan their lives by ensuring that they get return on investments on whatever they put in the farms. They will know how much and when it is going to come. Agriculture is a devolved function. However, we know that most of the county governments in Kenya have not built capacity to access international markets. Unlike our neighbour, Ethiopia, which consumes quite a good portion of its coffee, Kenyans consume a very small portion of the coffee that we produce. Therefore, we have to access the international markets. To do this, we need a strong coffee board that can link up the consumers who are in foreign countries and farmers, most of whom are small-scale. We will have a strong say in how they market the coffee, the formation of economic blocs, and most importantly, value addition. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, most of the farmers have given up on coffee farming. That is why production of Kenyan coffee has reduced from the 30 kilogrammes per bush to only three kilogrammes. We saw it in Ethiopia and Colombia, where their production, on average, is up to 50 kilogrammes per bush. That means that without changing the acreage of coffee that we have in this country, we would be able to double or even triple the production. Kenyan coffee is one of the highest quality. It is used by most of the countries to blend and improve the quality of their product. Unfortunately, it is then not marketed as Kenyan coffee or product, but rather as other countries product. This has been the case because the regimes that have been there, hitherto, did not have any interest in ensuring that Kenyan farmers and product get their rightful share in the international market. Moving forward, now that we are facing a challenge of foreign exchange, it is important to know that from agriculture and agribusiness, this country can earn enough foreign reserve. However, that can only happen if we use the right laws and ensure that the farmers get the maximum benefit of farming. Most importantly, we need to ensure that we access the most premium markets that exist in Western countries. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I would not be doing justice if I will not mention the effort that the Committee has put in this Bill. We have gone to various counties,"
}