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{
    "id": 175446,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/175446/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 230,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Kigen",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 44,
        "legal_name": "Luka Kipkorir Kigen",
        "slug": "luka-kigen"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker. I am in support of this Motion. It is so crucial, taking into account the fact that food is a basic requirement for survival. In fact, it has a great importance in terms of the fact that nobody can do anything before he eats. If this country is to move forward, the basic issue such as food, must be secured. The situation in which our people are in at the moment, in terms of the prices of food, is deplorable. The Government must address it comprehensively, so that we are not faced with a similar situation every year. We are putting short-term solutions to the present situation. Right now, we are asking the Government to subsidize the food prices. However, as has been said by other speakers, it is important for us to know that the Government cannot forever subsidize food prices. We should have a long-term approach towards solving this problem, once and for all. We should start by encouraging farmers to look at farming as a commercial venture that should give them profits. At the moment, we are almost relying on food that is imported from other countries as opposed to getting our food locally. Farmers in this country have been ignored for a long time. That is why we are in this situation. The foodstuffs that we are talking about and asking the Government to subsidize their prices is imported from other countries and not from our local market. If there is any foodstuffs from our local market, it is a very small fraction. The Government should be working out long-term solutions to encourage farmers to look at farming as a profitable venture. Today, if you visited farmers in maize, wheat, millet and sorghum producing areas, you will find that they are very poor, yet they have land with a lot of potential. This is because the production cost of food is very high. The price of diesel is very high. Diesel is a prime mover in ploughing, planting, harvesting and transportation of the produce. The Government should not just be rushing in with short term solutions to solve crisis. It should address the root causes of these crises, for example, why we do not have enough food and why we have to import foodstuffs every other time. We have enough land and resources to produce sufficient food for our people. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, the Government should remove taxation on diesel, particularly diesel that is used by farmers, so that the farmers can plough at a cheaper cost. They should produce food at a cheaper cost. Other farm inputs like herbicides and fertilisers are so expensive in the market, yet they are so cheap when they arrive at the Port of Mombasa. Why can the Government not consider staring a fertiliser factory? What a pity that after 45 years of Independence, we are importing fertiliser from outside? We can set up fertiliser factories and manufacture cheap fertilisers for our farmers. This will reduce the cost of food production. If the Government could make this a priority and allocate enough resources to address these concerns, food security will be addressed greatly. The Government should look into ways and means of reducing the cost of producing food in this country. We have qualified extension workers. The Ministry of Agriculture should encourage our people not to rely on maize only. We should promote crops like sorghum, sweet potatoes and millet, so that we are not looking at ugali and nothing more. It is important that we train our people to diversify and expand their menu, so that they do not just rely on githeri and ugali . We should get a short-term solution by subsidizing the food prices at the moment. We should reduce the price of maize because our people are suffering. With those few remarks, I support the Motion."
}