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{
    "id": 1532567,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1532567/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 4820,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tigania West, UDA",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) John Mutunga Kanyuithia",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "other irrigation infrastructure will help a great deal in opening up more land for farming. We have huge chunks of land with very good soil across the country. However, we do not have water. Lack of water is one of the problems that we need to address. These budget estimates seem to speak in that direction. Hon. Temporary Speaker, I listened to every Member of the Departmental Committee and discovered what the agricultural sector suffers from: the choice of logic. In this case, every Chairman supports their sector to ensure they get more money. There is no single sector that has any surplus cash to share with another one. On the other hand, these sectors have some historical background. They originated somewhere and have developed over time. As they develop, their demands increase. Every Member spoke to the needs in their specific sectors. In retrospect, we need to ask ourselves, as Kenyans, whether we have the choice of logic. Assuming all sectors are equal, we need to find out which areas have the greatest potential to grow this country. Where do we have the greatest potential to provide the three basic human needs? The first basic need is food. Anyone who is naked but well-fed can still survive in any environment. Unfortunately, we have not responded to this important sector. This sector has the potential to open up industrialisation in this country. The Industrial Revolution is all about the availability of raw materials. This is the sector where the greatest population is anchored. It is a potential sector for export. As we took a closer look at the sectoral provisions, we realised that even the gatekeeper institutions were not fully supported. When we fail to support an institution that enables export for Kenya, we are doing an injustice to our country. Even the institutions that produce genetic materials in this country are not well supported. This is a problem because we cannot generate technologies and innovations commensurate with this country's age, state, and demand. We need better seeds and animal breeds in every variety. We should invest in these two sectors. Currently, only about 16 per cent of the land in Kenya is arable. We are in the age of intensification and need the best breeds to improve productivity per unit. That way, we can organise our agriculture in a more productive manner. Therefore, we need to revisit the choice of logic. We need to understand the role of every sector. We need to have a national conversation on the Kenya we want and the sectors that will support the economy of this country. Unless we do that, we will be making the wrong choices. We will be investing money in the wrong areas while assuming other important priorities. One thing that the African leadership recognised is that agriculture is not supported. Allow me to delve into what happens at the county level based on what we discovered recently. We appropriate money to the counties every year. In some countries, seven to ten per cent of the money they get is put into agriculture. Unfortunately, if you take a closer look at how the money is spent, you realise that it goes to pay salaries and personnel emoluments. It does not go to development. We have relegated our sectors. Farmers are suffering because they do not have sufficient knowledge. The current technologies and innovations do not reach the farmers. Additionally, we do not have the elaborate extension system we used to have in the past because investments are not good. When the African leaders realised this in the 1990s, they came up with the Maputo Declaration in 2003 – that we should fund agriculture to the tune of ten per cent. Kenya has never achieved four per cent. The best Kenya has done is about 3.8 per cent. This has been revised over time. Ten years later, in Malabo, they came up with specific, measurable indicators to show how countries are progressing. Every two years, there is a biannual review. Kenya is rated poorly in those reviews. Every informed person in this country knows Kenya does not do well in agriculture. The reason the African leadership decided to go in this direction was to arouse the consciousness of the leadership of Africa to focus on a sector that is likely to support and help people get out of poverty. Agriculture has 2.5 times the potential to get people out of poverty than any other 'better' performing sector. In some cases, the situation threatened the closure of The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}