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{
    "id": 181844,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/181844/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 155,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Eng. Maina",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 75,
        "legal_name": "Ephraim Mwangi Maina",
        "slug": "ephraim-maina"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, first, I wish to commend the Ministry, and the present Minister for the effort he is really putting in this Ministry to see to it that agriculture comes up. I also want to agree with a policy that he has stated, that it is time we made farming commercial. Until a nation can feed itself, it cannot be free, healthy or have peace. It is time we invested enough resources in agriculture. The major problem in this country is that farming has been almost turned to slavery. In fact, if you go into farming, you need a commitment from your heart. You do not do it because of any returns. The farmers in this country are small-scale. Let me mention the coffee farmers. Today, coffee farming has become like slavery. Similarly tea farming has gone the same route. Pyrethrum collapsed long ago. It is time we put in enough resources, and I support the Ministry in requesting for more funding. This Ministry produces more than it is getting from the Budget. I think it is time they got the proportionate share of what they are producing. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other issue is our way of farming. Rain-fed farming is a risky business. Most countries that produce food do it not from the rain-fed system but by harnessing and utilising water. I keep on imagining that in this country, many parts could become productive through the utilisation of the irrigation system. Until that happens, we will never be able to produce food to the maximum, as we wish to. The other issue is that of supporting the farmers, so that they do not carry the burden of this country alone. Where do we get Kshs10 billion in one day to import maize. Is it not a shame that this Government can actually look for Kshs10 billion to import maize, whereas we could not afford, say, Kshs5 billion to buy fertiliser to give to the farmers and we get three times as much. Anybody who says that we should not subsidise agriculture does not love this country. The United States of America (USA) and Europe do it; whether through some intricate system, they protect their people and their markets. It is time we took courage and did the right thing for this country. Our farmers have been suffering. We want to see people who have knowledge and the capital to invest in agriculture, but they will not do it so long as they are supposed to take the full risk and produce below the cost. Go to the small-scale farmers; they are in their tightened belts and tattered clothing. You do not have to be told. We are just enslaving them. I want to say that this country needs to relook into its agricultural policy. Let me remind this House that after Independence, it happened that this country could not feed itself, and we went for yellow maize. So, the President said that he would ensure that he would never again feed his people with yellow maize. He instituted a policy, and out of it came a policy that was called \"Guaranteed Minimum Returns (GMR), which guaranteed farmers that if they planted wheat and the rains failed, they would get back their returns. The following year, TheStandard on the front page had a headline saying, \"Kenya has a bumper harvest\", because we got more than we expected. One may say that GMR went because it was misused, but let us get systems right. I do not believe Kenya will ever feed itself and---"
}