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{
    "id": 1525552,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525552/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 218,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Cheruiyot",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Majority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13165,
        "legal_name": "Aaron Kipkirui Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "aaron-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": "about a few minutes ago, it is on account that we have supported our farmers to produce sufficiently. That we celebrate. Now, we must do the next step which is to ensure that we secure and lock the market for them, then we will have completed the equation. Our farmers will be happy and they will go home celebrating that their leaders have responded to their needs. If you see the production in almost all crops in this country today, for instance, it is the first time today in 2024 we sold tea worth Kshs215 billion. That has never happened in the history of this country. It is on account of the fertilizer subsidy programme and the fact that God was extremely favourable to us and we had good weather condition in 2024. Our coffee is on an upward trend. I saw a tweet from somebody who is a keen follower of the Nairobi Coffee Exchange, that for the first time in history, that exchange went into the night and into the second day. People were bidding because of good production. I was at a public function in a place called Majimoto in Kipkelion West sub- county; one of the top coffee growing areas in my county and in the Republic of Kenya. When one of the farmers took microphone, though we were at the funeral of a gentleman who had been unfortunately been murdered, he appreciated Government for one thing. That because of the interventions that have been done in the coffee subsectors, they are beginning to see better prices. They are now earning 100 plus, things that were history in the past. Yesterday we were in Kakamega and the farmers were urging us to make sure the supply of this fertilizer and urea which they use to grow their sugarcane is available, especially at this time as we anticipate the March long-rains season going into April, so that they can thrive and do better. I must appreciate those interventions that have been done by this administration. It is for the very first time in a long time that rural agriculture is working. It is on that account that even our food import bill is reducing. I hope there can be something to report about from every part of this country. I do not believe there is any part of this country that cannot find something that will make the citizens to put their hands to and have a rural economy that works for them. Subsequently, when a farmer such as this gentleman, Mr. Hilary Kerich Kiprono, points to us of the challenges that they are facing in the maize growing area in a small region, it should lead the Senate of the Republic of Kenya into a broader conversation beyond just this issue in Bomet County. We must find ways through which we ensure that rural agriculture works and many of our citizens continue to earn. It is a shame of monumental proportions for us to continue importing food and yet we know that every time a ship docks in Mombasa with wheat, sugar, rice or maize, that is a farmer of another country that we are empowering to the detriment of our own farmers. I want to challenge this House that we must come up with regulations on this power that we gave to our Cabinet Secretaries to issue waivers on importation of any food that is grown by our citizens, be it sugar, maize or wheat. Parliament needs to take a decision on this particular matter, so that when I vote to allow importation of maize into 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."
}