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{
    "id": 30362,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/30362/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 344,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Chepkitony",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13,
        "legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
        "slug": "lucas-chepkitony"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to support this very important Motion. I would like to thank Mr. Namwamba for bringing this Motion. This Motion is very important because it is touching on one of the very important organizations which was supporting agriculture in this country. Kenya was on the right track in the early days of Independence until some few years ago when we allowed our agricultural institutions to go down or collapse or be mismanaged. The KFA was one of the very important bodies and it still is. It is strategically located. It is situated all over the country. It supports all forms of agriculture from cereals, coffee, tea and dairy, among others. It used to distribute farm inputs, chemicals, feeds, seeds, farm machinery, spare parts and so forth. So, it was handling everything to do with agriculture. Nowadays, it is impossible to get some of these things because it has collapsed. I would like to urge the Ministry of Agriculture in particular to assist the farmers by reviving this body. It will solve the problem of fertilizer which the Government is now buying and distributing to farmers. Instead KFA used to import fertilizer from manufacturers directly at a cheaper price. They would sell to farmers at a fair price because it was a farmer’s body. It was not established to exploit the farmers. So, we need to revive it instead of the Government using this money to import fertilizer and then distribute it to farmers. This money should instead be used to revive KFA which will later import fertilizer and sell it to farmers at a reasonable price. The KFA also used to play an important role in the marketing of produce, particularly cereals. It has godowns all over the country and the capacity to store various crops in their stores. It also used to sell potato seeds and many other types of seeds. Also, KFA used to distribute dairy equipment and animal feeds. So, this is an all round body which needs to be restructured. The Government was able to revive KCC. Why not revive this very important organization? Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, I know there are a few directors who claim to be the owners of KFA. Let them declare their interest. The Government should note their interests and proceed ahead the way it did with the KCC. I believe their interest can be catered for. The body should be restructured financially and new management put in place to manage this body afresh. The current directors can be rewarded or compensated. They can only be compensated if they can prove those claims. So, I would like to urge the Government to give its political support and goodwill. This is the only way farmers of this country can be supported. This avenue will assist to stabilize agriculture and food production in this country. This the only way we can support other forms of agriculture which forms the backbone of our economy. So, again, I would like to commend Mr. Namwamba for bringing this Motion. I hope the Ministry will support it and take action immediately because it is long overdue. We have other bodies like the AFC which also need to be revived and strengthened. These bodies are not strong at the moment because they lack enough capital. If we start with the KFA, we will be doing something very important for the farmers of this country. We will alleviate food shortage in this country and farmers will produce more than they have been doing in the recent past."
}