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"id": 176797,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. Ethuro",
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"legal_name": "Ekwee David Ethuro",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me the opportunity to contribute to this Motion. This is a very, very important Motion and I would like to sincerely thank my good friend, Mr. Lekuton, for bringing this Motion. I also thank the Assistant Minister for being here to listen. In fact, a while ago, I was wondering where the Minister and his Deputy were, but I am happy that he is here. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, why do we consider this Motion important? On the basis that there are not enough extension officers in the Ministry of Livestock Development. The Government, in the Sessional Paper that is before this House, has admitted--- I can confirm to you that, for a very, very long time, the Government could not make up its mind on the importance of this Ministry. You realize there were moments when it would be a Ministry by itself. Many a times, it would be combined with the Ministry of Agriculture. In the process, the issue of the livestock December 03, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3811 sub-sector became completely inferior to the greater issues of maize and other cereals production in this country. As important as they are, definitely, we need to address the issue of extension services in the livestock sector! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other reason why this Motion is necessary is because the Ministry of Livestock Development engaged in the privatisation programme. That was limited to the dairy farmers, especially in areas that were already rich in agricultural potential. The extension services--- Those were the recommendations by the World Bank. A developing country like Kenya needs to put its foot down and confirm that, as our country, there are moments in our state of development where you have to make sure that there is public intervention in order to improve the basic infrastructure - not just roads, but also extension services and transactions! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you know that most of the meat we eat comes from our part of the country in northern Kenya. You will find that, when we are working with NGOs, we are trying to fill a gap or void by virtue of limited extension services. We did a lot of training of animal health workers and technicians. Every time we brought them to Government officers, there was always a big rift by the Government officers who said: \"You cannot bring quacks to prescribe medicines!\" They said you cannot bring in quacks to inject cows and goats. In this situation where there were no enough extension services, what were we to do? Many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) had done a lot of work in terms of making interventions in this particular sector. All those interventions could not be put to good use because the Ministry and the veterinary officers treated the rest of the well qualified personnel as quacks in the profession. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am very sure that a Bill like this one will ensure that those people who have been trained by NGOs because of insufficient training capacity by the Ministry will be absorbed into the mainstream extension services and provide those vital services to our livestock farmers. There is a book entitled \"Where there is no Veterinary Doctor What Happens?\" This book has been the basis on which we have provided training to animal health workers. In Turkana Central, there is only one veterinary doctor. The same doctor acts as the District Veterinary Officer (DVO). We have about 17 divisions in Turkana District. These are supposed to be manned, at the very least, by the Animal Health Officers who have attained diploma level. These officers are not there. We have 58 locations. We are supposed to have people who have been trained up to certificate level. These officers are not there. At the sub-location level, of course, they are absent. When we have that kind of scenario and we still say that our country is not productive and that we want to realise Vision 2030, it is not achievable. It cannot be done. In accepting this Motion, which I believe he will because if he does not, I will wonder what business he is doing in representing the people of the greater Garissa--- Indeed, this will be a Christmas gift that the Government of Kenya would give. The Minister will look into these areas that had been forgotten for a long time and support this initiative that my good, friend, Mr. Lekuton, has brought to the Floor of the House. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, even after legislating a Bill that would enlighten and train these people, there is still the element of disease surveillance and vaccine production. I am grateful that Kenya Veterinary Vaccine Production Institute (KEVEVAPI)is now under the control of the Ministry. It has no capacity to produce the vaccines that are needed for our livestock in this country. Epidemiology is a very critical subject in livestock management. Therefore, it is important that KEVEVAPI is given sufficient funding to produce enough vaccines, especially for a disease we call Lomoo which is wiping out livestock in the greater parts of northern Kenya. The Minister has done something. However, this is not sufficient enough like starting good arguments from the safer zones. However, we need to move very fast, so that those areas which are already affected, can have the vaccine, so that we save our livestock. The Government has done good work in terms 3812 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES December 03, 2008 of reducing food prices. I commend the Minister for Agriculture and the Prime Minster for making specific interventions. I am a trained economist. The moment world market dynamics fail, it is only important that at that point, the Government makes specific sporadic interventions in order to ensure that the public good is realised. Even great economists realised that and appreciated it. The problem with our country is that when we get economists from the World Bank and maybe you are a pseudo economist or anthropologist, then we start taking all the prescriptions that the World Bank has prescribed to this country. In the 1980s when the World Bank was talking about Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs), no country benefited from those programmes. Which country benefited from SAPs? The SAPs failed in providing extension services to our farmers, our livestock herders and in any kind of form because they said that we should pay for those services. How could we have paid for it when the availability of drugs was in question? While this Bill will increase the number of personnel available by bringing on board the kind of people they call quacks, the Minister will also make sure that extension services are available. I also did some work with some NGOs where we made sure that drug stores were available in all the corners of districts like Wajir, Samburu, Marsabit and Turkana. Those drug stores should be managed and supplied by the Government. Your Ministry, Mr. Minister, needs to borrow from the Ministry of Medical Services where every dispensary has a kit, straight from the headquarters of the Kenya Medical Supplies Agency (KEMSA). The Minister should also do the same. He needs to identify drug stores in all these communities which will help our livestock herders access the necessary drugs and vaccines in order to enhance the condition of the animals. If you look at some of the animals, you will see that they cannot fetch any money. They cannot because they have been left to freelance, so already nutritive value of the pasture is limited. We cannot get a healthier animal which will fetch premium prices because of the diseases. The Minister owes it to this country that extension services in livestock are prioritised. The other aspect I need to mention is that the Minister needs to seek affirmative action in the Cabinet. I did a study on how dairy took over from beef research stations. That is a fact. By the time we attained Independence, most of the livestock research centres were for beef production. What did the independent Government do? We converted most of the beef research stations into dairy research stations, including the one in Naivasha. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to revive that. With those few remarks, I wish to support."
}