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{
"id": 250782,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/250782/?format=api",
"text_counter": 314,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES May 3, 2006 Eng. Okundi",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I stand to support and second this important Bill. The cotton industry collapsed in the early 1990s when the co-operative societies, which were running this industry, also faced very big difficulties of loans which could not be repaid. This Act is long overdue because at that time there was the Cotton Lint and Seed Marketing Board Act. That Act regulated the industry and encouraged farmers to find markets for the lint and cotton seed. It also promoted the activities of the co-perative societies which were pushing for the cotton. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, lthis country seems to have let go the revival and vibrancy of this particular industry. We did not support this industry the way we supported other industries like tea, coffee, pyrethrum and sugar. At that time, the Tea, Coffee and Sugar Acts were reviewed substantially. They were so well improved that the prices that were going down seem to have come up. A similar thing was required for the cotton industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, most of Kenya constitutes of arid land. It is either semi-arid or purely arid land. Most of our people occupy this land. The advantage with cotton is that it fixes nitrogen in the soil and improves the fertility of the soil. It is a crop that can grow in very marginal land. As a result, it is extremely suitable for the Kenyan soil. Indeed, it was one of crops that helped to develop our nation economically. It is the cotton industry that helped a country like the United States of America to develop. Therefore, it is a crop of great economic importance to their to economy. In fact, it is quite difficult for the United States of America to assist other countries with the techniques of growing this crop. This is why we, as a country, need to face the cotton industry squarely. This industry will employ many of our people and earn a living. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, with the collapse of the cotton industry in this country, textile firms also collapsed. Textile firms cannot operate without sufficient cotton production in order to provide raw materials. It is important that this Bill has at long last been brought to the House. Let us discuss it and make sure that it is implemented quickly, so that it can facilitate the revival of the textile industry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, cotton consist of two main parts. One part is the lint itself which provides the fabric. The lint is just about a third of the total amount of cotton we can produce. The seed is the other part which provides a quantity of about two-thirds of the total cotton produced as raw material. These two products promote parallel industries, one for lint fibre and all the other things used for spinning. The seed is used to produce vegetable oil as well as the seed cake for animals feeds. I want to assert here that because we did not do much in the cotton industry, the mitumba trade found its way into our country and as a result, textile factories collapsed. Cotton farming was abandoned because there was no benefit in farming it. The countries that have mitumba have found a way of bringing their clothes at the expense of our textile industry. Today, we have the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This act allows African countries to export specified products to the American market and enjoy highly reduced duties. If we had a good cotton industry, we would have substantially improved our incomes and increased the development of our country. But AGOA has nothing to do with the cotton lint we are talking about. It refers to the clothing made from cotton lint products. So, we must grow cotton, harvest it, gin it and produce apparel to be exported directly to the USA. So, the AGOA will only benefit us if we promote the cotton industry. The application of AGOA too is for a limited period, so that if we do not take advantage of it now, as a country, we will lose the benefit that should accrue from it. I know that the EPZs have grown substantially because they imported cotton lint from countries like South East Asia and produced apparel in Kenya. We need to do something quickly. All this cannot happen without the Cotton Act we are talking about today. If we had this"
}