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{
    "id": 1382615,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1382615/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 111,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Teso South, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Mary Emaase",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. As I rise to reply, I wish to appreciate all Members who have contributed in overwhelming support of this Bill. Many Members who have spoken to this Bill have reiterated the importance of the cotton sector to this country, and this cannot be gainsaid. From creation of employment for farmers, to revival of industries, which will create employment for our youths, importers and exporters, the whole supply chain will benefit from this Bill. Members have even spoken about how revival of the industry will contribute foreign exchange to this country. I am particularly looking forward to seeing all our ginneries across the country being revived and coming to life, including the Amukura Ginnery in my constituency, Malakisi and Mulwanda ginneries, and all other ginneries that collapsed across the country. The views, concerns, and recommendations that have been shared by Members have been very insightful and enriching. They will go a long way in improving this Bill, even as we get to the Committee of the whole House where Members are welcome to propose amendments. I want to comment on a concern raised by Hon. Abdul Haro. He was concerned that the registration of farmers might be an impediment to onboarding farmers onto cotton farming. I want to assure the Member that registration of farmers is a good proposal because it is important for purposes of planning, determining how many farmers have been onboarded, providing farm inputs like fertilisers, capacity building, and estimating production so that we know how much cotton we will get. I appreciate all the presentations by Members. They have spoken about cotton quality, the need for us to meet international standards so as to export our products, the high cost of electricity, and the general high cost of production that needs to be addressed so that farmers can get good minimum returns on their farm outputs. Members also spoke about delayed payments to farmers and the need for us to take cotton farming seriously for the benefit of our youths. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I also commend the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Hon. John Mutunga. He spoke about the outdated technology and the need for us to do away with all outdated technology and upgrade to enhance processing capacity, efficiency, and effectiveness. He also spoke about the need for us to take advantage of this opportunity. Production is hardly 3,600 metric tonnes of lint yet the expected output for even the existing industries to operate at maximum capacity is around 100,000 metric tonnes."
}