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"speaker_name": "Mr. Nyambati",
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"legal_name": "Walter Enock Osebe Nyambati",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you, for allowing me, also, to contribute on this very important Motion. I stand to strongly support this Sessional Paper No.2 of 2008 on the National Livestock Policy. It is extremely important that this country takes seriously the issue of agriculture. If we cannot be self-sufficient in terms of food production, then we are going nowhere. It is a pity that the Government does not take seriously the agricultural sector in this country. Why am I saying so? In the early 1970s, as it has been said, the sector was accorded 10 per cent of the national Budget. As we speak now, it has come down to 3 per cent. There is no way this sector can be sustained with only 3 per cent. I want you to imagine for once how much money we spend to import food. It is a colossal sum! If we used this amount to develop and improve our agricultural sector, we could be too far away. We could save and export food! We must learn from a country like India, which has a population of a billion plus, yet it is able to feed its people; this is because it has invested in agriculture. They came up with what we call the Green Revolution, and that country is able to feed itself. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when I grew up in that small village in Kisii, the dairy industry was booming. We used to take milk to the Kenya Co-operative Creameries (KCC). That is no longer there. If we are not careful, even the coffee and tea sectors are going to die. We must take very serious measures in terms of agricultural production. On that line, I want to say that the Ministry of Livestock Development should be fully funded. This is because even if we talk from now to whatever time, and we are not able to fund the Ministry properly so that it can do its work, it will go nowhere. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the dairy industry must be reinstated and improved. Cap.34 of 1958 is the one that regulates the dairy industry. The Kenya Dairy Board, in my opinion, is as good as dead because it is not doing much to improve the dairy industry in this country. It has to be the Government's responsibility to ensure that there is partnership between the farmers and Government to ensure that we produce enough milk for this country. This milk can even be exported. In terms of livestock farmers, especially in North Eastern, it is a shame that the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC), which came into being under Cap.363, in 1950, is still the same as it was. It is a shame that we are not able to have satellites of the KMC where the raw materials are. I think it is important that the Ministry of Livestock comes up and sets up KMC satellites in areas where we have these livestock, so that it helps in cutting down the costs of transportation and any other costs, so that farmers can benefit from this kind of exercise. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if you can recall, during droughts, a lot of animals die. This is a big loss to the country and farmers. This is because we, as a Government, are not planning. How can we let our animals die when we can utilise those animals in order to help our farmers, so that they can benefit out of this venture. So, I think that it is very important that the Government takes these matters very seriously. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, because we do not have much time, I want to suggest a few things. First, I want to propose that there must be enough funding for farmers to be able to improve dairy and other livestock farming. We must ensure that those institutions which finance farmers are made to do so. Even commercial banks should ensure that they support farmers, by ensuring that those farmers who get loans from those banking institutions pay less interest than the December 3, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3845 other loans, because this is social responsibility to the country. By so doing, if our farmers have enough credit, then they will improve whatever livestock farming that they are engaged in. I also want to say that marketing is extremely important because if our farmers produce whatever they produce and there are no markets, then they will not be encouraged to intensify their farming. So, it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that there is proper marketing of livestock products, whether it is meat, milk, hide and skins or whatever, so that farmers can be encouraged to do more farming. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in the market now, there is livestock insurance. This will help cushion the farmers in the event of loss of their livestock. Farmers must be educated to know that there is this facility, so that in the event of drought or accidents, they can be reimbursed so that they do not go back to zero as opposed to continuing with the farming that they were doing. I also want to say that the Government must ensure that there are extension officers who should help farmers all over the country. These officers are no longer there. We used to have extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, but they are no longer there. I think that this is because we do not fund this Ministry properly. I think it is our responsibility, as a country and nation, to ensure that we fund this Ministry properly so that we have enough--- I strongly support the Motion on the Animal Technicians Bill that we passed here recently. I think the Bill is about to come. We must support it so that these technicians can be everywhere in the villages to improve livestock farming. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to stop there and say that it is extremely important that we support this Motion if we need to be self-sufficient in terms of food production. I beg to support."
}