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{
"id": 182151,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/182151/?format=api",
"text_counter": 174,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Samoei",
"speaker_title": "The Minister for Agriculture",
"speaker": {
"id": 204,
"legal_name": "William Samoei Ruto",
"slug": "william-ruto"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to assure the House that I will put even more effort towards the achievement of food security and incomes for farmers. I intend to continue with the efforts to sustain the gains made by my Ministry in the last five years, and make even more gains. Therefore, I need more financial resources and support from this House. While appreciating the Budgetary allocation the Government has put in my Ministry, I express my sincere appreciation to our development partners for their support to the Ministry to the tune of Kshs3.69 billion that we have received from various donor countries and organizations. The funds will be used to enable us implement the many activities planned by my Ministry in this financial year. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I will now turn to the activities that I have planned to implement with the Budget allocated in this year. First and foremost, I intend to focus my attention towards funding activities that will ensure effective service delivery and sustainable growth of the agricultural sub-sector. Some of the highlights are:- (i) to facilitate increased agricultural productivity and output; (ii) to promote agricultural products enhancement; (iii) to review the development of agricultural policy and legal/regulatory frameworks; and, (iv) the management of administrative functions. The four programmes cover the strategic objectives that my Ministry is implementing within its strategy plan for 2006 to 2010. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, following the creation of additional districts and divisions, there is need to construct and equip offices in the new stations. In addition, transport facilities have to be improved to the required levels in order to enhance service delivery to the farmers and other clients. There is also need to continue improving the facilities of the Agricultural Training Centres (ATCs) so as to be at par with other institutions offering similar services. In this regard, the Ministry will, during the year 2008/2009, finance construction and refurbishment of 48 stations across the country. In addition, 12 Agricultural Training Centres will be rehabilitated and acquisition of Wambugu ATC will be finalised. The Ministry also plans to continue strengthening the extension services in the country by providing more transport facilities and operational funds. All technical officers will also be provided with uniforms to enhance their visibility. Authority is also being sought from the Ministry of Finance for the employment of additional staff to strengthen the extension services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my Ministry will continue implementing a number of extension projects such as the National Agricultural and Livestock Extension Programme, the Kenya Agricultural Productivity Programme, the Agricultural Sector Programme Support and the Private Sector Development in Agriculture, among others, with support from development partners. I intend to use these donor funds, together with allocated Government counter-funds, to 3040 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 28, 2008 implement these agricultural extension and development activities planned for this year. With this support, I expect to reach some 2.5 million farmers through farm visits, field days, road shows, training and workshops. In addition, my Ministry will also continue to provide support to research through the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). My Ministry will continue to strengthen the Agricultural Mechanisation Service throughout the country, so as to achieve the above goals. To this end, my Ministry will purchase more earth- moving machinery to assist in bush-clearing, land levelling and construction of soil and water conservation structures. Through these programmes, I expect to reach at least 35,000 farmers throughout the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, good quality planting material is critical for production of any crops, let alone basic food crops. However, some of the food crops such as pulses, legumes, millet, sorghum and root crops, that are suitable for Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs), which we call \"orphan crops\", do not attract participation of private seed companies for seed multiplication. The Ministry intends to address the issue of inadequate planting material for ASALs by using various mechanisms to source, multiply and distribute to farmers, the identified crops. These mechanisms will include sub-contracting seed companies to produce some of these seeds and facilitate individual farmers, and ATCs, to carry out multiplication of seeds. Through this programme, I expect to supply half-a-million tonnes of various seeds and planting material. This year, under this programme, we have spent about Kshs150 million; we distributed seeds under this programme to various regions in the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, despite its potential for food production, Kenya still ranks high among the food insecure countries of the world. In order to achieve food security, my Ministry has initiated, and will continue to implement, a food security programme named \"Njaa Marufuku Kenya\", whose goal is to contribute to reduction of poverty, hunger and food insecurity among the poor and vulnerable communities by 2015. I intend to reach at least 40,000 poor farmers with this programme. My Ministry will also collaborate with other Ministries implementing food security measures to enhance this programme. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in 2008/2009, my Ministry will continue to support the cotton sub-sector, and will focus on the following areas:- (i) promotion of cotton production; (ii) bulking of planting seed; (iii) purchase of value addition equipment and machinery for training; and, (iv) farmers capacity building in value addition, technologies and strengthening of extension service while supporting cotton research and provision of demonstration farm inputs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in order to further address the problem of food security and poverty reduction among some 3.5 million small-scale farmers, I will continue to implement the National Accelerated Agricultural Input Access Programme, as mentioned earlier. In this financial year, my Ministry intends to reach some 500,000 farmers in 48 districts across the country with the Kilimo-Plus and Kilimo-Biashara packages. To further demonstrate the Government support to facilitate access to affordable input in the last financial year, we also developed the National Fertiliser Development Strategy and Action Plan, so that we can chart the way forward on improved access and affordability of fertilizer in line with Vision 2030. To implement the strategy on price reduction through bulk buying of fertiliser, my Ministry will be seeking an additional Kshs6.3 billion to be able to actualise this programme. To enable me effectively implement these activities I have enumerated from paragraphs 18 to 27, I propose to spend Kshs7,805,921,570 under the Recurrent Expenditure, and Kshs5,287,737,194 under the October 28, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3041 Development Vote. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the objective of the second programme is to legally empower our stakeholders through improvement of the current agricultural legal and regulatory framework. The process of policy formulation and Bill drafting takes time. Due to numerous Acts that need review, amendment or repeal this process is unlikely to be finished soon. In line with this, one of the flagship projects in Vision 2030 is to prepare a harmonised legislation that reviews all these Acts and addresses them at once. I shall soon lay the Bills on the Table for debate. We have close to 130 different pieces of legislation that govern the agricultural sector. We intend to reduce these 100 or so pieces of legislation to about seven. This will help us manage the sector better and reduce the areas of conflict. In the last three years, we have been preparing these Bills. As I have said I will table them in this House shortly. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with liberalisation of the agricultural sector, it is critical that enabling regulatory framework be put in place to ensure that all players adhere to set standards and regulations. I will bring to this House legislation to amend the Act under which the Kenya Plant and Health Inspectorate Services (KEPHIS) operate so that we can add additional responsibility to the organisation. This will ensure that they not only deal with plant health but they also begin to deal with issues of fertilizer, pesticides, herbicides and soil conditioning so that the farmer operates with as much information as is practically possible. To carry out these activities listed from paragraphs 29 to 33, I will seek approval to spend Kshs973,756,996 under the Recurrent Vote and Kshs79,600,000 under the Development Vote. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, my Ministry is also plagued with issues of value addition. We sell our tea under circumstances that are not conducive for the farmer to get as much earnings as possible. Only 1 per cent of all our tea is Value Added. The rest; 99 per cent, is sold in bulk in an auction and we lose our premium tea. My Ministry will engage in a clear policy on value addition of all our products from tea to coffee, through all our fresh produce. This will ensure that we not only enhance our farmer earnings but also increase our revenue from foreign exchange when we export these products. In these efforts, I intend to spend Kshs136,415,000 under the Recurrent Vote and Kshs305 million under the Development Vote. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, supervision, monitoring and evaluation are critical for success of the implementation of activities. It is for this reason that my Ministry attaches a lot of emphasis on planning and administrative issues. We work in collaboration with international organisations such as FAO, IFAD and International Desert Locust Organisation. However, due to past default in payments, there are arrears that we owe to these organizations which have accumulated and are currently standing at over Kshs700 million. I intend to negotiate a phased out programme to clear these arrears and reduce them to some Kshs390 million. It is the Ministry's intention to have a long-term view towards offsetting all arrears. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to request the House to approve an amount of Kshs13,065,658,764 to meet the Recurrent and Development Expenditure of my Ministry for the year 30th June, 2009. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to move."
}