Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 1472541,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1472541/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 237,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tharaka, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. George Murugara",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "when the likes of Senior Chief Koinange and others were allowed to do so. After Independence we had a law, the Coffee Act. Quickly, the crop gained popularity. In the 70s it was the mainstay of the country’s economy. Later, it was overtaken by tea, but we want to restore coffee to where it used to be. This is so that not only will it a major foreign exchange earner for the country, but also one of the crops that give farmers the best of the income for their livelihoods. The new law is very important because it handles the three major areas of coffee growing, starting with crop husbandry, research and growing or germinating of the crop. It is important for us to emphasise that in the 1970s and 80s, the Ruiru Coffee Research Institute (I think it was called a foundation then) was extremely pivotal in getting the best brands or crops of coffee grown in the country. Soon after that we just got it wrong as a country and coffee went to the dogs. In fact, farmers started uprooting the crop; a very undesirable development that happened. We are happy to note today that, whether through the New KPCU and the Coffee Board of Kenya, the crop is getting back to its roots. We must also work on marketing because that is where the problem set in. We started having cooperatives which did not give a damn to what sort of crop was grown, provided the little that they could collect was marketed and they would pay the money and not care about the farmers. Today, we must ensure that the farmer gets value for the crop produced and taken to the market. We cannot say this without any more emphasis than we are doing now. An issue has been raised as to why coffee transcends four ministries. We must admit because this is our country. It brings in the issue of bureaucracy when decisions have to be made regarding the crop. The parent ministry is the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development. It is the Ministry that deals with crop production, husbandry and harvesting of the crop before it is taken to the market. The Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development then comes in because most of the crop is grown under cooperative societies. We know very well it is one Ministry that must be streamlined. It is not as efficient as it should and the new Cabinet Secretary must move in to make it even better than it is. After that, it moves to the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry because we have to market it abroad. We have to take it to the countries where it is consumed and we are paid for it. Again, we must also streamline how we market it here. We should not do it the way we market our manufactured products. This is a crop and it belongs to a farmer. It does not belong to an industry. Therefore, the way it is treated by the Ministry of Trade, Investment and Industry must be peculiar to how the other crops are done. The Ministry of National Treasury and Economic Planning, I believe, is where money would come into the country through and the disbursement would have to be done. Again, we have to be efficient here. Farmers have to be given their money in a timeous manner. The reason why coffee collapsed is because, number one, the prices were mundane. The prices were so poor that no farmer would even want to weed for the crop or even harvest it. Number two, when the funds came in the cooperatives would always take the lion's share. This is what we are trying to get away from. After that, we would then have immense debts. Indebtedness by the societies which of late, the Ministry of Cooperatives and Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Development has to move around the country to try and have those debts waived. We do not want to get into this. This is why the Hon. Leader of the Majority Party has brought this Bill. As such, we have to support the Bill for the benefit of our farmers. With those very many remarks, I beg to support this Bill. I will also support the amendments proposed by those who come from the coffee growing areas because they are the paramount stakeholders in this. Good amendments have to be supported so that we make this Bill as good as it can be. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker. I support."
}