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"id": 30335,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/30335/?format=api",
"text_counter": 317,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Namwamba",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 108,
"legal_name": "Ababu Tawfiq Pius Namwamba",
"slug": "ababu-namwamba"
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"content": "In moving this Motion, let me start with two preliminary points. The first is that a country that cannot feed its people; a country that cannot lay claim to food security and stability of its agricultural sector is a country that can certainly not lay claim to being stable and secure. It is a country whose very sovereignty is in doubt. There is a reason why the agrarian revolution preceded the industrial revolution. The basic reason is that unless you answer the basic need of food, really, you cannot move on to answer the bigger questions of industrialization and progress at a higher level. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, therefore, as we talk about Vision 2030, it will remain a mirage; it could as well be revised to Vision 3020 if we do not secure our agricultural sector. Indeed, if it is true, as we have commonly stated in this country that agriculture is the backbone of this country, then this is a backbone that we do not take care of very well. This is a backbone that is under a very serious risk of breaking. It is a backbone which has been placed at risk by its very protector, which is the Government of the Republic. In my capacity as the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on the Cost of Living, a Committee that was put in place by this House in its wisdom to look at the factors that have inflamed the cost of living to unprecedented levels, I have had occasion to go around this country. I have traversed the length and breadth of this country. I have talked to ordinary Kenyans and interacted with farmers. I have interacted with farmers in the bread basket zones of the North Rift like Nandi, Uasin Gishu and Trans Nzoia counties, Bungoma, South Rift, Bomet County, Narok and other places, which literally feed this country and in a literal sense, provide the foundation upon which this country has come to be known as an agricultural country, where we pride ourselves that 80 per cent of our economy is virtually driven by the agricultural sector. But I have come across incidences and a manifestation of neglect. I have come across farmers in these various places who feel abandoned, neglected and completely left to the vagaries of the market forces, wheeler dealing and cartels that have infested the agricultural sector, making it virtually impossible for the farmer in this country to thrive. Therefore, the background that I invite this House to have at the back of its mind as it debates this Motion is an agricultural sector that is basically surviving by the grace of the good Lord, but not because of any deliberate efforts to support the Kenyan farmer, as an individual and also as institutions that support agriculture. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me move on to the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA). The KFA was founded in 1923. This is not a new institution. It is an institution that predates the independence of this country. This association, which ranks among the very first institutions and the very first conglomeration of efforts to take care of the agricultural sector, was put in place at the very beginning when the foundations of the very notion of a State called Kenya was just taking root. This association has gone through a lot of metamorphosis since its founding in 1923. For example, in 1984, this association was changed from the KFA to the Kenya Grain Growers Co-operative Union (KGGCU). As it will become manifest during this discussion, that was the beginning of the troubles of the KFA, namely, the transformation from the KFA to the KGGCU in 1984. In 1996, the members of the KFA, a majority of who are ordinary farmers across the length and the breadth of our nation, resolved that the KFA should revert back from this new creature called the KGGCU. Unfortunately, the only thing that changed was the name which reverted from the KGGCU to KFA, but for all intents and purposes, the legal personality, the structure and the operations remained pretty much what had been conceived at that time as KGGCU. In 2007, four years ago, farmers succeeded to return the KFA back to its original character when the name and the legal status properly reverted back to KFA under the Companies Act as a limited liability company. It is also important for the House to note that the KFA is not a small thing. It is a not a village association. This is a massive union of farmers in this country that boasts a membership of 65,500 members. This membership includes farmers, co-operative societies and corporations dealing in farm inputs and other farm related activities. So, we are talking about a body that is not only representative, but representative on a considerably broad scale. It is also important for this House to take note of the critical services that the KFA was founded to provide and has provided in the past, especially at the time when this association was firmly on its feet. These services included acquiring and distributing farm inputs to farmers, especially the members of the association. These inputs included fertilizer, seeds, agro-chemicals and farm machinery. This association has also provided agency services. It has been a very reliable agent, especially when it comes to handling and distributing aid fertilizer, sugar as well as purchasing and marketing of grains including maize and wheat. The association has also distinguished itself as a provider of technical services to farmers aimed at enhancing good farming practices and methods, control of crop pests and diseases and related services. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, another important service that was provided by this association was seasonal credit. The association provided this service in conjunction with the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC). The question that has to be asked is: Why would an association of this nature and character, which provided such critical services to a sector that is acknowledged as being the backbone of the economy of this country, collapse? Why would such a body be beset by so many challenges to the extent that today the KFA is more of a shell compared to what it once was in its heydays, in the 1970s and 1980s, when it boasted a membership of thousands, and a network of 67 branches and selling centres across the country? That branch network has since been reduced to only 36 branches and selling centres countrywide to date. What is the reason? The answer to that question is simple. The KFA was set up to fail. The KFA has been deliberately mismanaged and deliberately pushed to the brink of collapse. This association has suffered Government interference. It is, therefore, proper for us to talk about getting this association back on its feet; the Government should be at the forefront of those revival efforts. It is inexplicable, for instance, why the Government saw it fit in 1984 to transform this association from KFA to KGGCU. This provided a platform for the Government to seriously interfere in the operations of the KFA. Therefore, the woes of this association can be traced to poor management, especially management by persons who were handpicked by the Government at that time; this is interference which has not enabled this association to conduct its affairs freely and in an environment that would engender proper corporate management. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the result of that unfortunate scenario is that today the KFA is burdened with a debt portfolio of Kshs1.451 billion. The debts include a loan owed to the National Bank of Kenya of Kshs461 million, a loan owed to Barclays Bank of Kenya of Kshs380 million, property rates, which include council rates and rates due to the Commissioner of Lands, ground rates and lease extensions, amounting to Kshs45 million, and a staff indebtedness portfolio of Kshs485 million. Other liabilities include valuation reports, Kshs6.5 million; legal fees and conveyance fees, Kshs18.5 million, and monies owed to suppliers like the Kenya Seed Company, Kshs55 million. It should be noted for the record that some of these commitments were incurred in circumstances which were not above board, and that this was during the time when the Government had virtually taken over the affairs of the KFA. Therefore, what we are seeking is for the Government to appreciate that the KFA is a critical cog in the agricultural wheel that we are attempting to spin as we race towards Vision 2030. If the Government is serious about strengthening the agricultural sector, then it needs a partner like the KFA, which has a membership of farmers across the length and breadth of this country; it can work hand in glove with the Government to provide critical services like farm inputs, stabilization of pricing of produce as well as provision of agency and technical services to farmers. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, it may be argued that attempting to pump this kind of money into the KFA is like a socialist posturing, and that it amounts to the Government throwing money around in a welfare kind of behaviour; but I want to remind the Government of countries across the world rated as superpowers and economic powers, which jealously protect their agricultural sectors. Countries like the USA, the UK, Germany and the Nordic Countries jealously protect their farmers, because they know that if you lose food security, even the notion of being a superpower and an economic power will have no legs to stand on. Two years ago, during the global economic meltdown, the Obama Administration provided over U$700 billion in a package which came to be called “Economic Stimulus Programme” in the USA. This programme was intended to inject fresh impetus in the drivers of the American economy. Part of this money was even given to private banks. If the USA, which is the most capitalistic country on earth, can pump US$700 billion into economic agencies, including private banks, to revive a sector which drives the American economy, why would the Government in Kenya be reluctant to provide a paltry Kshs1.3 billion to revitalise a sector which is rated as the backbone of the economy of this country? Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, many countries in the world have gone the same way. Examples are countries like Denmark, Sweden, France, Japan, and South American countries like Mexico and Brazil. These are countries which have today managed to raise the profile of the agricultural sector. In those countries, you will see government policies which deliberately protect the farmer. This is not going to be a novel thing in this country. The Government has previously written off debts and provided relief. Several years ago, the Government provided about Kshs4 billion to the coffee subsector to help that subsector get back on its feet. It is gratifying to note that, because of that Government support, the coffee subsector is certainly back on its feet, as should be the case. If we can do it for the coffee subsector, we can also do it for the grains and sugar subsectors. Surely, there is no better way of demonstrating that commitment than by strengthening the hand of the premier farmers’ association, which has demonstrated for decades, since 1923, when it was founded, that it can provide farm inputs, technical services, and that it can be a champion when it comes to the cost of farm products and, therefore, help in reducing the cost of living. With those remarks, I beg to move and request hon. Musa Sirma to second the Motion."
}