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{
"id": 1569684,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1569684/?format=api",
"text_counter": 152,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kilgoris, KANU",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Julius Sunkuli",
"speaker": null,
"content": "The need for extension officers has become even more important. Before, coffee growing was a matter for the Mount Kenya region: Embu, Meru and Kiambu, which was a major coffee area. Today, because of the attraction of real estate, Kiambu is no longer a very strong coffee area. Now, areas like Kilgoris, Kitale and some parts of Uasin Gishu are the new areas of coffee growing. But the people of that area do not have an inherited knowledge of coffee growing. So, if we do not have extension officers going to the new areas where new crops are growing, who will teach the farmers of that area how to grow those crops? We have been very good at keeping our cattle in Maasai areas. But the shrinking land has made it necessary that we do more scientific breeding of cows. If we do not have extension officers, who is going to train the people how to improve their breeds? It is so important, because of the shifting nature of our economy, that we have people who are experts who train our people. Today, my place in Transmara does well mainly in sugar cane and coffee. But where are the extension officers to help train these people? In many areas of our pastoralist communities, the only doctor you get to inject your cows is the owner of the cow. Everybody knows that if you want to inject a cow, you just apply 10 cc of penicillin, Terramycin or something of that kind. But there is self-medication, if I may use the term, of our cows, by people who have not been trained, but believe they have the knowledge, even if the knowledge is very old, and is the only thing we have. So, farmers are all on their own. There is nobody out there to help them. So, it is important that even as we keep singing this song about devolution, because I know it is in fashion to say devolution is very good, but in some areas, it is costing us. We must ask the governors if they are ready to handle agriculture, or take it back to the centre. If they are not doing it, and the centre cannot be allowed to do it, then who is going to do it? We cannot afford to give lip service to agriculture. We have to say that agriculture is important, and we have to put our money where our mouth is. We cannot keep saying that yes, we are an agricultural country, yet we are not putting money, skills and everything that we need there. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I beg to support."
}