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{
    "id": 1525601,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1525601/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 267,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wamatinga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13582,
        "legal_name": "Wahome Wamatinga",
        "slug": "wahome-wamatinga"
    },
    "content": "to see some of the best practices. Some of the pests and diseases can be controlled using biotechnology that is available. We know that all the crops diseases can be modified in a way such that they cannot affect our crops. It is also not lost to us that Kenya used to be one of the leading countries in this part of the world in terms of agricultural technology. I do recall that when Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT) was being financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). One of the informing factors was to make it a hub to produce agro-engineers who would steer this country into ensuring that we have food security. The beginning of devolution after the promulgation of the Kenya Constitution, 2010, brought a lot of good tidings to Kenyans, but also a lot of misfortunes. Some of the misfortunes include the fact that we devolved agriculture did not institutionalize some of these institutes such as research centres. Some of the counties we have are too small to afford to have the technology needed to do research. It is imperative that we leverage the institutions of higher learning that we have in this country and make sure that we bring all the stakeholders together, be it the county government, the farmers and research institutions so that we can mobilize resources. That way, some of these researches that need a lot of resources, advanced knowledge and technology can be accomplished. When we brought in devolution, some county governments could not afford to support field extension officers who used to be all over the country. We used to have cattle dips, research centres, people who would visit and walk with the farmers and demonstration farms that could show the farmers some of the best practices. We also had localized kind of research that identified the crops fit for a particular area. Madam Temporary Speaker, it may surprise you that the last time we came with a crop, variety, the Ruiru 11 coffee, was way back in the 1990s. Since that time, we have stagnated because we decided to devolve functions without the budget. This was where the rain started beating us. As we were interrogating this issue of the maize crop in Bomet, it was not lost on us that this is a problem that has continued to face many farmers; be it the coffee or even daily farming. We continue to face adverse movements of prices because of the global challenge that we have. The competition, more so from the Latin America; from our neighbouring countries such as Ethiopian and Tanzania have given us not only given us a run for our money, but have made most of the crops that we grow in Kenyan soil non- competitive. I am glad to say that for the first time, we have a Government that is quite intentional in reviving agri-preneur and empowering the farmers. This can be evidenced and seen by the fact that this Government is providing subsidized fertilizer that is accessible to all farmers. It is not done by just supplying subsidized fertilizers. Now that we have a population that is getting ever younger, we must come up with incentives that will make them see agri-business as an opportunity. I am happy increasingly we are seeing younger people engaging themselves in farming and coping it with the modern technology. They are able to make good returns in this. 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."
}