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"id": 301983,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/301983/?format=api",
"text_counter": 296,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Mureithi",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 89,
"legal_name": "Erastus Kihara Mureithi",
"slug": "erastus-mureithi"
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"content": "Also recently when we decided to increase the food production in this country we went to Bura and His Excellency went and commissioned that project, but the Ministry’s activities have been a bit disjointed. On one hand they promote production but on the other hand marketing is left to somebody else. Therefore, the many tonnes of maize that was grown in Bura went to waste and created aflatoxin which really affected a lot of children. Therefore, this policy will create an institutional arrangement where we are going to have a framework that is going to direct extension workers in the right direction. I would like to say that as far as we are concerned, this Ministry seems to have lost its glory because these days we do not see extension officers in the field. What has happened is that quite a lot of other people have come up and they are offering extension services completely contrary to what the Ministry does; they tell farmers to grow a certain commodity and they do not buy that commodity. We have a case in Meru where people were told to grow soya beans and other beans and finally the buyers shifted from Meru. They came to Rumuruti and Nyandarua. Once they con a group of these people they shift to other places. This has been because according to the Maputo Declaration the Ministry of Agriculture was expected to be funded up to the tune of 10 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This country has never gone beyond four per cent. As a result, countries like Mozambique are exporting to Kenya maize, which we should be having. It is unfortunate because for some time there was a freeze on recruitment of extension officers. So, we do not have enough people to go round and advise farmers the way we used to do in my time. As a result this country continues to import maize. Maize is one commodity that is most popular. We have potatoes which are the second most consumed crop in this country. We do not have cold rooms. We have one cold room in Molo which is in total disrepair. We had passed on this Floor that cold rooms should be built in North Rift, Central Rift, Nyandarua and in Meru. I also ask the Minister to go and follow up the Motion that was brought here by hon Kaino. I seconded that Motion. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, when potatoes are harvested they are supposed to be kept in cold rooms and farmers are able to sell them when prices are high. What is happening now is that the brokers are buying potatoes in huge sacks of 270 kilogrammes against the Gazette Notice that was produced by the Ministry of Agriculture and another Gazette Notice by the Minister for Local Government that said one gunny bag should be of 110 kilogrammes. Farmers, particularly in Nyandarua, where we are producing most potatoes, are getting exploited. As a result the returns to the farmer at farm gate are zero, yet you come to Nairobi and there are no potatoes. The middlemen have been enriched; no wonder we have many incidents of young people committing suicide. This happens even in my area where people grow a lot of potatoes and they are not able to take their children to school. I think these two Gazette Notices should be activated so that nobody should is allowed--- The Provincial Administration, Ministry of Local Government and the Ministry of Agriculture should be in a position to supervise that kind of approach. If it is impossible let the Ministry of Agriculture continue with what they have said in their policy paper, that they are going to increase the value addition. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as soon as we get that value addition, potatoes will not need to leave my constituency. They will not need to leave Meru. We shall now start processing them the way they do in Egypt and sell the final product. Right now we are buying potatoes from Egypt, yet this country is a potatoes growing country. They are selling to Kentucky Chicken here just because we do not have proper methods of marketing them or marketing chains in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is some issue that has been brought up by the Ministry. I would like at this time to make a proposal. There is the issue of privatization and commercialization; it is very good to do that but I would like to say that the extension service should not be done away with. We must make sure that extension services are there to make sure that farmers are not exploited. What will happen is that farmers will continue growing potatoes but somebody else will be making money. I would like the Minister to listen to this; the unfortunate thing is that the extension officers in my constituency are given motor bikes. We have problems with Land Rovers as they get stuck in the mud; so, you do not expect any extension officer to go on a motor bike on a road on which he will probably fall over. As a result I think the Ministry should now reconsider having these Land Rovers, so that when they go to supervise these commercial farms and private owners they will have the capacity which they do not have right now. I do not want to blame the extension service officers. We have no facilities. You go and get money as travelling allowance--- One District Agricultural Officer (DAO) is given about Kshs260,000 a year and he has all these people. if you work out on a daily basis this is less than Kshs10,000 a day. I think it is necessary that the Ministry of Agriculture co- ordinates the extension services so that this country can be a net exporter rather than a net importer of potatoes. Right now foreigners are coming to invest here; Minister, why are they investing here? They want to invest here and export their produce to their own countries. Why should we not do it ourselves? When we allow that, we export labour and we need labour here ourselves. That is why I see that this Paper has come at the right time; unless we restructure our extension services in this country, we will continue mourning. Do not forget there are cartels in the cereal industry, sugar industry, macadamia nuts industry and in almost all the lucrative commodities markets. These people will not allow the Ministry of Agriculture to reorganize itself, so that we can produce enough. I would like to say that the Ministry has done well and we support it. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what should happen is that the public sector should not be done away with. I think they should look at what Mozambique has done. They call themselves a poor country but they are exporting maize to us. Egypt is more advanced than us; they are exporting potatoes to us. Look at South Africa; they are growing them on water pans like the ones in the whole of the white highlands. Why can we not do that? You have never heard Zimbabwe get food aid because they use water pans and dams. You go to Namibia; they use water pans in the Kalahari Desert. Why can Kenya not rehabilitate its dams? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what is of concern to me is that we talk of irrigation and food production, when these are in two different Ministries. One creates water and the other food. If you combine the two they create synergy in terms of food production. As a result, we have a problem and I would like to propose that this Paper must be completely re-looked at so that these institutional arrangements can create value. We should also zone areas as is done in Ethiopia. In Ethiopia you cannot grow flowers wherever you want. You cannot grow a certain commodity wherever you want. They have zoned their country. I went there in 2009 and the reason they have zoned their country is because they distribute labour force in the whole of Ethiopia. Kenya over- concentrates on areas without zoning the country. We must zone it and we know the Ministry of Agriculture has done a very good map in terms of land value. That should be used to rezone so that as soon we reach a certain carrying capacity of a certain commodity we do not allow any more investment in that area. We take resources to another zone. You will find that if you go to some areas they are over-exploited; sometimes water is not available just because we do not zone. I would like to add that zoning must be done. These institutions must be functional and the mechanism to strengthen them must be instituted. Once we do that we will be sure that Vision 2030 will be achieved. With those remarks, I support."
}