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{
    "id": 1490662,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1490662/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 156,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Murgor",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity also to add my voice to my colleagues. First of all, I support the Bill because the sugar industry, when it first started in areas that have industries and crops planted, that is, Western, Nyanza and many other parts of the country, was a booming farming business. People managed their lives well because of this crop and they were able to pay school fees for their children to go to school. University and High school students went to school without difficulty because their parents found a new crop, a new cash crop that made them manage life. Soon, it became even more challenging to have maize plantations in those areas because sugarcane farming took over every piece of land that was available for cultivation. Life went on well in these areas. As soon as the introduction of the free market in those areas, it became a plague and the beginning of the end of the industry, or it introduced many problems. Farmers were not able to manage their lives and their children were not able to go to schools because their parents could not raise school fees. Many things about life became difficult. Cartels that took advantage of the farmers came in. Some of the farmers were not able to remove or cut the cane from the land because they could not afford it. Every situation took advantage of sugarcane farmers. Those who ran these industries subjected the farmers to vulnerability in that they could not take their crops to the industry. Some of them abandoned the cane at the gates of some of these factories because they had nothing to return home with. It became a crop that was really just left in the hands of the farmers without a way forward that would bring success to the farmers. The openness of the free market became the beginning of a plague that ate the sugar industry. This is because the authorities did not really enable the farmers, especially when the board was disbanded. Therefore, nobody stood for the farmer in terms of production and marketing. The introduction of free market became a problem because many businesses or business people brought sugar that was cheaper than the one being produced in Kenya. Therefore, because everybody was free to buy and sell sugar, it ate what was available and produced on the land. Therefore, the industry has collapsed because of that. In my suggestion, to revive it, it needs a very strong board that will keenly look into the technical know-how of the crop, and also the market; where to take this produce to, so that it enables the farmer to manage reploughing, replanting and buying the inputs. The Government needs to come to the farmers aid and subsidize the inputs if the farmer is expected to produce any bags of sugar. This will enable them to go back to the farm and plant sugar cane. A lot of research should be done, so that there is modern technology, a modern way of looking into the market, and ways to enable the farmer to be skilled according to the modern technical know-how that there is at this time. I support. I thank you. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Director, Hansard and AudioServices, Senate."
}