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"id": 176990,
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. K. Kilonzo",
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"id": 172,
"legal_name": "Julius Kiema Kilonzo",
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"content": "On a point of order, Mr. Speaker, Sir. I think that the Government must take the business of this House very seriously. It should give concrete reasons why it wants the business of the House deferred. The Assistant Minister is asking for two weeks to get a concrete answer, yet this is an issue of 2006. Do you think that he needs to give us a better country. It should therefore be given the required attention. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there are so many things that have not been going right in this Ministry and I am happy this policy document has really highlighted a lot of them. Recently, the Kenya Veterinary and Vaccines Production Institute (KEVEVAPI) was taken to the Ministry. The Kenya Trypanosomiasis Research Institute (KETRI) is under the Ministry of Agriculture. It deals with research of trypanosomiasis and I do not know what it is doing under the Ministry of Agriculture because animals are the ones that suffer from diseases brought about by tsetse flies. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI) is still under the Ministry of Agriculture but it should be under the Ministry of Livestock Development. The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) and the Agricultural Development Corporation are under the Ministry of Agriculture. These institutions were created to provide credit to livestock producers and it is very difficult for these institutions to support livestock farmers through provision of credit when they are not under the Ministry of Livestock Development. So, when we have such weak research extension linkages between the institutions, it will affect livestock production and productivity. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have witnessed the collapse of all cattle dips. I did a survey recently in my constituency. There are 32 cattle dips in Loitokitok constituency but as we speak now, none of them is functioning. This has been contributed partly by the issue of privatisation. The Government privatised cattle dips, leaving the facilitating roles to the District- Based Organisations as Government agencies and that has actually affected the management and efficiency of those facilities. I always wonder what is making the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) not to be operational to the required standards? One of the things that I find not good in that institution is the issue of stringent quality requirements at the regional and international levels. It is so sad that we fear competition because I think that is one of the problems of the KMC. They have not lived up to the required standards, especially when we come to health standards of the livestock products. If you go to Botswana which is the leading country in Africa in respect to livestock rearing and production, you will find that they have disease-free and disease-control zones which are really functioning. I think if we could establish such zones in our country, we could actually assist the KMC to live up to its primary objectives. However, that cannot be possible if we do not reclaim the lost livestock marketing division or the holding grounds for that matter. They were grabbed long time ago and I think it is good that we try to reclaim them. Now that we have everybody in the Grand Coalition Government, we should try to reclaim that lost land for this disease-control and disease-free zones to be established. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, since many hon. Members want to contribute, let me talk about one item and that is funding. Funding to this Ministry has actually been the most important factor. It is one of the reasons that has contributed to the near collapse of this very important sub-sector. If you have the statistics, this Ministry of Livestock Development has always been under the agricultural sector. In this Government, there are seven agricultural related Ministries. These are the Ministries of Agriculture, Livestock Development, Regional Development Authorities, Development of Northern Kenya and other Arid Lands, Water and Irrigation and Fisheries Development. The allocation of resources to these Ministries is given as one Budget item and at the December 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3839 moment, what goes to these seven Ministries to share among themselves is 4.7 per cent of our total Budget. In fact, in 1960, 10 per cent of our total Budget was given to the agricultural sector. In the 1980s, it came down to 7.5 per cent. In the 1990s, it came further down to 3 per cent. Since 2003, it has been 3 per cent. That is what goes to all the agricultural-related Ministries and when they divide it among themselves, the Ministry of Livestock Development has always been getting 1 per cent of the total Budget. I started by saying that this Ministry contributes 10 per cent of our total Gross Domestic Product (GDP) but it gets 1 per cent of our total Budget which is an equivalent of 0.25 per cent of our GDP. You contribute 10 per cent and you get 0.25 per cent in return. The issue of funding needs to be done very adequately. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the way forward as we said in the morning, is the need for the country to have an Animal Technician Bill first of all, to correct a lot of conflicting Statutes with respect to training, research and surveillance of livestock and livestock products. Then this policy as a way forward, is also recommending for the harmonisation of those conflicting Statutes and the mandates of each one of them and putting the right legal institutions in the right place. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is need to improve livestock farming and value addition of the products which support livestock-based industries to encourage competitiveness. This calls for embracing of the new technology in this industry. It is also good to provide sufficient funding that is commensurate to the amount of revenue which the sector injects into our Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Finally, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to talk about the issue of loans. It is good we secure or repossess grabbed holding grounds for research on disease, animal generics and catarrhal fever. If you have seen development in Government circles of late, we have always been writing off loans for farmers in the coffee industry, tea sector and sugar industry. However, we have never written off loans for livestock farmers from the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC). Recently, this House passed a Motion to that effect. This Motion was brought to this House by Mr. Eugene Wamalwa. We always go through turbulent times. We lose animals due to drought. It then becomes very difficult for one to continue servicing the loans. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, because of the land tenure system in the pastoral areas, the issue of credit facilities may not be attractive for livestock farmers to access loans. This is because they do not have title deeds or any other documents which are required by banks. I would, therefore, like to appeal to this Ministry, through this Policy document, that they take that into account. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I remember very well that some politicians while campaigning promised the livestock farmers that they would establish a livestock insurance scheme to carter for livestock that die through drought and other causes. I am glad that they are in Government. I beg to support."
}