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"id": 182162,
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"speaker_name": "Mr. I. Muoki",
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"legal_name": "Isaac Mulatya Muoki",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for this opportunity. At the outset, I would like to say that I fully support the Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture because I want to believe that if it is supported properly and the same happens to the infrastructure of this country, we can raise the economy of this country to higher heights. As the Minister rightly put it when he was moving this Motion, the Ministry of Agriculture needs a lot of money to be able to undertake the activities that they have listed and also to turn round the current performance of the Ministry to some good expected levels. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I contribute to this Vote, two countries come to my mind. Recently, Malawi was performing very poorly in terms of agriculture and when the Government, through their President, took serious planning in the agricultural sector, where he was also acting as the Minister for Agriculture, things have turned round and their performance is very good. I also think of a country like Israel which is drier than the driest parts of Kenya and yet it is able to produce fruits which can be consumed locally and exported to other countries. So, in a nutshell, I am trying to say that if the Ministry of Agriculture is properly empowered in terms of good budget allocation and its officers plan properly, then we can move on very well. The emphasis of the Ministry of Agriculture has been on those crops which we have been talking about like coffee, tea and so on. If you look at it critically, you will find that the arid areas form about 80 per cent of our country's cover, whereas the other portion is only about 20 per cent. October 28, 2008 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3057 Since Independence, our emphasis has been on tea, coffee, pyrethrum and those crops in the highlands. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, SIr, it is high time that the Government and particularly the Ministry of Agriculture thought of having affirmative action in these Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs). With a land cover of about 80 per cent, if these areas are properly utilised, we can have a lot of output to satisfy this country and also to export. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the issue of dependence on one region for certain crops is dangerous. If you look at the situation that we went through at the beginning of this year, whereby most of the maize that we use comes from Rift Valley, the moment the post-election violence flared up and they were not able to produce it, it led to a shortage of maize in the country. If we had planned such that other parts of the country can also produce maize and other crops, we would not be in this kind of situation. So, it is very important for the Ministry of Agriculture as they plan, to make sure that each part of the country can produce food for that region and the entire country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I come from the arid zones and I am sure that if there was good emphasis on these zones, we can have a lot of development in these areas. I am thinking of something like horticulture. I come from Ukambani region. In particular, I come from Mutomo District and we have so many rivers passing through there. We have Tana, Athi and other rivers. If there was a good irrigation programme and we tried to promote horticulture like planting mangoes, citrus fruits and even vegetables, which on a small-scale have done very well in that area, I am sure we can develop this area and the kind of poverty which we talk about would be a thing of the past in Ukambani. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, you are my neighbour at home and if this was done, I am sure you will be one of the very key beneficiaries of this programme. Therefore, I am appealing to the Ministry of Agriculture to look at the issue of irrigation farming as opposed to rain-fed farming in the arid zones because sometimes the rains are not reliable and if we entirely rely on them, then at one time or another we shall fail in our programmes. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to say that there has been a shortage of seeds. I think one way of improving this is by using seeds that are ideal for that area. For example, we have maize seeds for arid regions and the highlands. If farmers can be committed in seed multiplication in those areas, it would go a long way to improve agriculture in the areas. About 20 years ago, we had a pilot project in Mutomo which was sponsored by DANIDA. I remember vividly that farmers were given, say, two kilogrammes of cowpeas seeds at a subsidized price and within a very short time, the seed multiplication was very successful. I am requesting the Ministry of Agriculture to use that approach, as they plan the seed multiplication. I am sure the Kenya Seed Company might not be very keen on seed multiplication but if the Ministry takes that approach, we can go along way in achieving this. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, having said that, I would like to take this opportunity to ask the Ministry of Agriculture to supply seeds to our area. We have had rain failure for a number of seasons. We do not have seeds, therefore, it is likely that the expected rains which will come in a week's time or so, are the most reliable rains in our region. Therefore, if the rains come and we do not have seeds, we shall be back to the same vicious cycle of famine relief. Every time a"
}