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{
    "id": 157291,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/157291/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 364,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Government has done, particularly on the issue of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). We still have IDP camps dotted across the country, particularly in the Rift Valley Province, which are an eyesore. I am hoping that with the passing of the Supplementary Estimates, these people are going to be resettled so that this eyesore ends. These people are going to get their rightful allocations of money so that they can go back to their farms and start farming. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, one of the challenges the President mentioned is the food crisis, which faced this country last year. This was as a result of rainfall failure. That challenge is still with us. This year, the rains are even worse than last year. The rainfall that is being received in the food producing areas is not very promising. Unless this changes, I think we are going to be faced with another food shortage this year. I am not praying for that to happen but the Government must be prepared to watch the situation as it unfolds. The Government should take action early enough and import food. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I must commend the Government for importing cheaper fertilizers. Farmers have been very happy. They got the fertilizers on time and many of them have planted. They are looking forward to getting sufficient rains. Land preparation went on well, planting went on well, but it is only the rains that may fail them. We are praying and hoping that the rains will come before it is too late. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the cost of crop production is still so high. Chemicals and fuel prices are also still high. There is also lack of credit to farmers. The Government promised that it would increase its allocation to the agricultural sector. They said that they would in the coming Budget double the allocation of funds from last year's 4 percent to 8 percent of the total Budget. I hope this is going to be done so that more resources are allocated to the agricultural sector. This would mean that the agricultural sector would have more money to give to the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) for on-lending to farmers in all sectors. This should not only be done in food production sectors but also in tea, coffee and livestock sectors. Generally our agricultural production has declined over the years, because of lack of support in the form of credit. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, our agricultural institutions need to be revived. I did not hear anyone talk about the revival of agricultural institutions like the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) which used to play a very important role in the provision of farm inputs. The KFA had branches all over the country and they are still there. It still has these branches and personnel. It only needs to be revived. The National Cereals and Produce Board plays a very important. We need to have depots to distribute food and fertilizers. Although the fertilizer was distributed, due to lack of depots all over the country, farmers had to travel long distances to get the inputs. For the first time this Government recognized that we need to construct more dams. The President mentioned that six big dams would be constructed. That is a commendable effort by the State because this is a water deficit country. We need to develop water and tap the run-offs when it rains, so that we can use this water during the dry seasons. We should continue to build more dams. Nobody is mentioning about the water problems facing Nairobi. About a year ago, there was a serious water shortage. Nobody has ever mentioned about it. It is high time a second Ndakaiine Dam was built wherever it would be, so that we have adequate water for residents of this City. The City is expanding very fast, but the provision of"
}