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{
"id": 181855,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/181855/?format=api",
"text_counter": 166,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Kosgey",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology",
"speaker": {
"id": 59,
"legal_name": "Sally Jepngetich Kosgei",
"slug": "sally-kosgei"
},
"content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to support what the Ministry of Agriculture has put before us. I am impressed by the amount of work they have done; you will recall that sometime before the middle of the year, we were completely worried about fertiliser. We were promised by the Minister that we would have fertiliser, but most of us were sceptical. So, I am here to congratulate him on behalf of fellow farmers for delivering on his promise. If we do not have enough food in Kenya, we know that our economy, no matter what we plan, will not work. We, therefore, must continue to press the Ministry of Agriculture not to go to sleep, but to assist the farmers. Very often, the large-scale farmers do manage to buy the fertilizers and other inputs. At the moment, the feeling is that they cannot afford to use inputs and still make a profit. May I request the Ministry to look at it again? The small-scale farmers also do need some assistance, and we are glad that extension workers are back in the field to assist. However, even though the Ministry says all the time that we can have tractors or machinery from them, I want them to know that the experience we have had is that this machinery is available but it does not work. So, you are asked to repair it yourself, use it and then it does not work again and you have to hire someone else. At the end, the Ministry sends you an impossible bill. I hope that, that could, somehow, be corrected. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I think that, somewhere along the line, the idea that we must have some type of subsidies for our farmers is not misplaced. That is because, once the economy was liberalised, a lot of food that comes into Kenya comes from farmers who had, indeed, received subsidies from their Governments. This is true, not only of the main food crops, but also in the sugar industry. The sugar industry is in crisis. I am sure the Ministry is aware because I have heard 3148 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 29, 2008 that they are trying to get higher yielding seedlings which are also faster, as we have seen in places like Mauritius. That is the direction to move. Many of my constituents are sugar-cane farmers and they are in distress. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to support this Vote by urging the Minister to look again more seriously at the subsidies because farmers are going to give up. As you know, the cost of electricity at the moment is not affordable. Petrol is not affordable. Therefore, coffee, tea and horticulture farmers are on the verge of closing down and moving to other places. We do know that because our neighbours are offering cheaper land prices, electricity is cheaper and all the other things are cheaper than we are offering here. Maybe, it is not directly the responsibility of one Ministry, but since you have the responsibility to monitor our agriculture, may I request that, perhaps, you could look into this issue once more. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, one of the interventions is what Mr. Bett talked about. He talked about all the organisms that are being talked about here. You are aware that in this House, there is a Biosafety Bill that is coming. It is coming from the Ministry of Higher Education, Science and Technology, so that we can debate and decide what we can allow into our country and what we cannot. Currently, as you are aware, there is no law to actually prevent anyone from bringing into our country even what could be harmful to us. Once more, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I congratulate the Minister for his presentation, for obvious hard work and, therefore, also, his staff for what is to me, apparently clear; that they have done their work and done it well. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I am happy to support."
}