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"id": 182167,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/182167/?format=api",
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"speaker_name": "Dr. Munyaka",
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"speaker": {
"id": 86,
"legal_name": "Victor Kioko Munyaka",
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also stand to support the Vote of the Ministry of Agriculture. I want to congratulate the Minister for a very well presented document. I want to agree with the Minister that the allocation for the Ministry is quite low and, as many hon. Members have already said, according to the Maputo Declaration, the Ministry of Agriculture and other line Ministries, is supposed to get around 10 per cent of national Budget. It appears that in Kenya we are not very serious with agriculture. That is why we are suffering, have a lot of problems and our farmers are suffering. We have many Government parastatals which deal with agriculture but they are collapsing. For example, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya, Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA), Kenya Planters Co-operative Union (KPCU) and so on. We can see the impact of inadequate budgetary support. Kenyans are actually repeatedly being told about hunger. For example in Ukambani region, we are always talking about hunger. Currently, I know of people who are already starving, and the Government needs to look at that situation so that it may save lives. We understand that Government institutions concerned with hunger react when people start dying. We would like the Government to be proactive, so that it does not act when people start dying. When we talk about food security, I remember in 2006 the maize harvest was 36 million bags, but the Government policy was that the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) was to purchase from farmers 3 million bags to be part of Strategic Grain Reserves (SGR). So, we are wondering where the 33 million bags was supposed to go. Unfortunately, most of the maize crossed our borders. In 2007 the harvest was 33 million bags and the NCPB bought 3 million. So, we are talking about 30 million bags left with the farmers. That is when unscrupulous traders take the maize out of the country. We are wondering why we have a very bumper harvest and after one year we are thinking of importing maize, whereas we could have just changed the Government policy of limiting the SGR. We should be able to open up our cereals depots for all the produce, which the farmers get, so that--- For example, if the 36 million bags are sold to NCPB, we would be stable with our food supply. Today, we are talking about importing 3 million bags to save the situation. I would actually request the Ministry of Agriculture to consider doing away with that limit on SGR, so that whatever maize is produced in the country is bought by the Government and put in our stores and later when there is drought, it is distributed to our people. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, currently, in Kenya we have two major farming 3062 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES October 28, 2008 seasons. There are the long rains which start in January. That is in Rift Valley, or Trans Nzoia, the main bread basket of Kenya. We also have the short rains season in areas of eastern, central, coastal and southern regions. But the Government does not place any emphasis in support of the farming activities in those regions. We hear the Government reacting by giving farmers in the Rift Valley fertiliser when they are about to plant, but in these other regions where people are also very active, there is nothing like Government support. So, we feel that the Government neglects some areas where people can do some farming and prevent occurrence of famine every now and then. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the price of fertiliser has been a major issue. Two years ago it cost Kshs1,500 per bag, and now DAP costs Kshs6,000 a bag, yet we have African countries which produce fertiliser. We have Senegal, Egypt and South Africa, which are producing fertiliser. Why can we not put our efforts together and establish a plant to manufacture our own fertiliser, so that we can be self-sufficient? We are now having the East African Community (EAC); so the five countries should pool resources and come up with a plant which, will manufacture fertiliser and supply it to the region. Regarding seeds, it is a very serious issue. The Kenya Seed Company is a Government parastatal, and it is a producer of seeds using research from the Kenya Agricultural Research Institute (KARI). We have many other seed traders who have no backing of research. That is why we find many seeds come to the country and then fail after being planted. The Government should be able to assist all seed importers and anybody trading in seeds to use research by KARI, so that we develop seeds which are good for our country, instead of using only Kenya Plant Health Inspectorate Service (KEPHIS) as a licensing body; this is because it tests a very minor portion of the seeds development. Our conditions may not be the same as those where the seeds originate from. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I know that flower farming is a multi-billion shilling business industry. But it appears that the Government has no hands in the flower industry. It is controlled by cartels which actually make so much money out of that business. My request is that, if the Government could exploit that industry and spread it to the local citizens, people could benefit. Whatever financial income that Kenyans can get out of that farming, would be able to benefit them. The Government will also earn a lot of money from the flower industry. But the way it is now, it is like they are doing their business freely, making a kill and not involving Kenyans and the Government. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we talk about regulatory bodies like KEPHIS and Pesticides Chemicals and Products Board (PCPB)--- We know that after harvesting, many grains in Kenya are attacked by weevils. That is because of failing chemicals. We request the Ministry of Agriculture to be very alert and ensure that PCPB is able to know that the chemicals that are supposed to preserve our grains are working. I remember at one time, about eight years ago, there was a bumper harvest in Ukambani and most of the harvest went down the drain because of attacks by weevils. The chemicals failed! Otherwise, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, thank you very much. I beg to support."
}