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"id": 182154,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/182154/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mungatana",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Medical Services",
"speaker": {
"id": 185,
"legal_name": "Danson Buya Mungatana",
"slug": "danson-mungatana"
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"content": " Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to also make my contribution to this Motion. I want to support the Minister in the vision that he has very clearly shown to this House. He has stated that one of the things that he would like to achieve in this budget is to see a commercially-oriented and innovative agriculture for the benefit of our people in keeping with the Vision 2030. I want to state that there are some very good ideas that the Minister has proposed, which we need to support. However, there are things that surely, need to be done for us to achieve a commercially viable agriculture for our society. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, looking at the agricultural sector in the Coast region, one of the things that I have found clearly missing here is that, the Minister has forgotten to talk about the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). He has mentioned that we are anticipating a shortage of three million bags of maize this year. The average consumption of Kenya is 32 million bags of maize. If people are not encouraged in terms of earnings from the maize crop - I am talking about maize production because it is the main thing in this country - we are not going to have increased production. In terms of innovation, has the Ministry thought about increasing the number of cereal purchase depots within the Coast region? If people do not see money coming into their pockets, they are unlikely to produce for purposes of securing increased production in agriculture. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in terms of innovation and thinking commercially for the ordinary people of the Coast Province and many other regions, the Minister should increase the purchase power of the NCPB. Currently, I am aware of a NCPB depot which is buried somewhere in Kwale. It has even got into the people's mentality that they are only growing maize for purposes of feeding their families. If people are not told that they can make money from growing maize, then the strategy of making agriculture commercially viable is going to fail. I want to plead with the Minister that he must start focusing on those food deficit regions in order for us to increase production. It is not enough to sell machinery and all those programmes without making a fundamental change in the minds of the people. That would be by making money available and constructing depots to purchase the food that will be produced. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the second point is still sticking on the vision of creating commercially viable agriculture. If you look at the Coast region and the lower Ukambani area, mango production has been a source of income for many families for many years. When you look at the Tana Delta and come down towards the Athi Delta down here, fruits are grown in large quantities. But the mango fruit, which has been a source of sustenance for many families, has 3044 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 28, 2008 received absolutely no mention in terms of the Ministry's priorities! Then what happens? What happens is that the commercial-mindedness of producing that crop goes down! People are not encouraged to be rich in terms of production! Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I have seen here that the Minister intends to spend Kshs132 million for cotton development alone. If you look at the target of cotton, without saying that, that is not important, it is grown for export. The number of catchment areas and the money that is going to be produced is not comparable to mango production! Mangoes have been there for many years and yet, we do not see innovation in the Ministry to try and trap that agriculturally and commercially viable production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we would like to see, in the next Budget or in his Revised Estimates, the creation of a Mango Development Authority, so that more people could be trapped into the economic chain in this country. It is not enough to fear these things. These things must be put into reality. The reality is that thousands of families depend on the mango crop. There is a huge market, as you are aware, but it is not being tapped. The people, therefore, are losing. The country is the net loser. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was very happy to hear about the plans that the Minister has in terms of reducing the number of Acts of Parliament that govern the agricultural sector. Time has come for all of us to look again at the laws that we have been making and the policies that have governed the making of those laws. So, that move, in particular, to harmonise legislation across the board is a very, very welcome move and we should support it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, right now, we have a big menace, not only in my constituency, Garsen, but in many parts of the country, where people are living close to the wildlife, or even with cattle and other animals. There is a totally outdated policy in terms of valuation of crops in the event that wildlife attacks your farms and destroy everything. The amount of money that is allocated for paying maize or tree plants that are still growing is almost peanuts! There is a great need for a change of policy in that direction. Farmers take a long time to put in money, inputs, fertiliser and investments into the growing of crops. But when an hippopotamus, for example, walks out and eats all your rice crop at one go, the agricultural officers--- If it is animals like cows or goats which have come and fed on your farm crops, the amount of compensation from the agricultural officers is peanuts! That has really created poor people across the country! When you look around, the people who have been attacked by wild animals like elephants and other animals--- That policy has, more than anything else, returned people backwards! Agricultural officers are people who have an attitude that is not acceptable. That is because when they come to see your maize crop, just say: \"This is a few shillings!\" If it is a goat or a cow that is lost, for any reason, the kind of assessment that is given is always different. So, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we would like to see a policy change in that direction. Even in the question of the law that allows compulsory acquisition of land by the Ministry of Agriculture, that law has not been utilised because the Minister has not been given sufficient coverage! So, we have had an issue in terms of how does the Minister and the Ministry make policies that will increase agricultural input, output and value across the country? In some areas, where the farms ought to be consolidated or acquired to increase production, that is not being done or effected because the legal provisions are very weak! That particular move has been and should be very, very welcome. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, finally, in supporting this Vote, we would like to see a strong move in the Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) towards increased production of seeds that survive in that area. That is because every time we hear about the tree crops of coffee, tea and pyrethrum, we do not hear about ASALs. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I beg to support. October 28, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3045"
}