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{
"id": 233428,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/233428/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Capt. Nakitare",
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"speaker": {
"id": 348,
"legal_name": "Davis Wafula Nakitare",
"slug": "davis-nakitare"
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"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Motion is a very interesting one. Any move that would mould Kenyan youths and make them understand their ability as human beings is a good move. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, if I go back to what my colleagues have said, I will underscore the importance of the introduction of farming as a science. Dominion Farms Ltd injected the knowledge of farming science in the youth by setting up a youth camp in Yala. With the help of the area Member of Parliament, Mr. Weya, there is need to inculcate in the youth knowledge on food production. We sometimes wonder why a Kenyan would say he is starving. We have a good soil. We are blessed by nature. Our good soil gives us everything that we need, from milk to aqua marine. We have saline water which is a waste. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when we go to irrigation, we do not talk about dykes alone. I think our Government has to think and have a vision to produce food that will make this country self sufficient. Prof. Oniang'o would agree with me that we have gone far in the promotion of nutrition in this country by introducing institutions that teach Kenyans good eating methods. That includes, intensive food production. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Yala Swamp is not better than the Delta Swamp on River Nile. Egyptians are exporting a lot of agricultural produce, yet they live in a desert while our soil is very fertile. This is the old Canaan that is going to waste. If we can desalinate the salty waters of our lakes including the Indian Ocean, we can have enough water to irrigate and produce enough food. There is a lot of waste in Sio Port. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, recently, because of the floods, the people of Budalangi, along River Nzoia, were introduced to the growing of rice by irrigation. We are talking about the lake basin. When I look at the waste of manpower and intellectual systems, I get sick. I get intellectually sick when I see that we have everything, but we have to go out there to beg. We do not even need investors to come and teach us how to farm. We know all the methods of farming. Some of us were born farmers. We are only interested in white colour jobs and that is why we have abandoned our parents in the farms and gone to urban centres to look for good and clean environment where we can put on ties. We have forgotten that soiling the hands is the only way we can feed the nation. I am disgusted by industries that discharge affluent into rivers. I do not know what happens to the consumers of rice that is grown along River Nzoia after the river is polluted by waste from the paper company. What is the position of the NEMA on the issue of clean environment? We have to analyse this situation and see what happens. When you grow rice in a swamp and introduce aquamarine, the fish will eat mosquito maggots and that will reduce the cases of malaria in the country. Water is very important to human and animal lives. When I go to our stores, the so-called supermarkets, safeways or malls, I get intimidated by rice from Pakistan, Cuba and Jamaica. Little do I see our local rice; the variety that we can boast of having been introduced in the country by our scientists in our universities. That is another way of wasting manpower. Poor management in farming has rendered this country destitute to the extent that we have to depend on donor food supplies. I do not see how a country like Kenya with very many rivers and lakes cannot produce enough food for its people. If you look at the Coast from Vanga to Lunga Lunga, you will find that all these are swampy areas. We call them wet lands. Anything can grow in areas where there is water. This is going to waste too. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, Dominion Farms Limited is a dyke in food production in this country. I cannot rest without highlighting the waste of knowledge and manpower by TARDA. The pace at which TARDA is moving is not the same pace at which our population is growing. It is still in the past. Looking into the future, Kenya is headed to having a population of 35 million people. The slow pace of development does not match the population explosion. This is a November 22, 2006 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES 3855 turning point for this country. If you look at the population distribution in Kenya, you will find that it is as if Kenya had no human production years ago and it has just blossomed. Young people between the age of 12 and 35 years old have outnumbered their parents. Indeed, they are more than what the nation can feed. This is a big concern. Rice has very many by-products, for example, whisky. You can distil ethanol from rice. Just like you get Elianto from maize, you can extract cooking oil from rice. This is a crop that can be put into other ten uses other than just eating rice with chicken and beef. We are not here to praise the donors. We are here to praise Kenyans themselves. We should take one step backwards and influence our youths to go back to the farms. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}