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{
    "id": 1546384,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546384/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 153,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Siaya County, ODM",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr) Christine Ombaka",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "speak, I am receiving messages from farmers who are planting that they want seeds and fertilisers. They want me to support them. But as an individual, how can I do that in the whole Siaya County? People want me to support them by giving them fertiliser. We have subsidised fertilisers. But even the subsidised fertiliser is still expensive for our people. They cannot afford it. That is why they want me to step in and support them. That means that if we produce fertilisers locally, it may be cheaper and, therefore, it may be possible for many people to access it. That is why it is important we have an institution that can produce cheap fertilisers that are easily accessed by farmers to enable them produce crops and food for food security. It is common sense. It is key that we support this Bill and stop importation of fertilisers. We have seen what importation has done in the past. They imported fake fertilisers that would not help us. Such fertilisers are dangerous, poisonous and not good for food production. If we go local, we may succeed. It will bring the cost down and more people will access fertilisers. More farmers will benefit and they will produce more food and in turn, we will have food security. It is common sense. We have universities with departments of agriculture. We also have colleges that train people in agriculture. We also have a Ministry of Agriculture. What have these institutions been doing all these years? By now we should be independent to produce our own fertilisers. We should also be able to distribute them across the country, sustain our lives, and put food on our table. So, the challenge here is the very institutions that train people in agriculture. What are the universities doing? We need an answer from them. What are they doing in terms of producing cheap fertiliser that can be accessed by many people? What is the Ministry of Agriculture doing? What are these colleges doing? Where are the farmers who need these things? We need more farmers, both large-scale and small-scale. The local women in the villages farm even if they have little gardens that need fertilisers. I saw on television some young people trying to come up with fertilisers they can use to plant some crops. But they are small scale. They try and that is an effort. So, these are very encouraging initiatives. There are people who have come up with ways to improve food production. But if the Government comes wholesale into this matter, supported by local people and by those who know how to farm, this country will be very far. I support this Motion because it is going to eradicate hunger and poverty and many people will not go without food. The challenge is how to look for funds to start big plants that can produce fertilisers for our people. The first step is to be on our own. We cannot continue importing dangerous fertilisers that we do not know how they are manufactured and how safe they are. So, let us go local to make it cheaper. Let more people access it and let there be more food on the table to eradicate hunger and poverty in this country. I thank Hon. Atandi. This is something we must go far with because it is on high demand. We need local fertilisers, but not the imported ones. Thank you, Hon. Temporary Speaker for giving me this opportunity."
}