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{
    "id": 305318,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/305318/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 296,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "So, it is not just enough for people to know they can eat coconut, but it is also important for them to appreciate that you can develop it into a much better product if you want to add value, and that there would be a variety and possibilities in which it could be used. Madam Temporary Deputy Speaker, we also need to protect our farmers. The reason why the coconut industry has not grown is, and is almost dying, is because we left it to brokers and foreign companies that have no empathy or interest in supporting the development of that crop within the coastal region of Kenya. They want to make their money quickly, if they can get the product and process it. But there is much more we can do with that product if we come up with factories and other ways of diversifying its production, including the types of products that can come out of it at the secondary stage. So, it should not just be brokers and foreigners who benefit from the crop. In that regard, therefore, we cannot support that industry, even as we talk about the legal framework, if we do not give the farmers, both small and big, support for them to feel encouraged to stay on. That support could be in form of seeds, fertilizer or supporting adjudication of their pieces of land, so that they can get title deeds; we can support the co-operative movement so that farmers can be brought together to make use of marketing opportunities, we can provide subsidized inputs that they need for growing this industry and in terms of actual heavy investment in the region, so that we have large factories that do not only process but will also be a source of employment for the young people of the region. As we have done with sugar and other products where politicians have been able to follow up because they are in the Government, we also need to support the putting in place of a regular legal framework so that these farmers are protected by law. We should also appreciate the value of coastal region in Kenya. It should not just be about tourism; even if it is about tourism, tourists would also be interested in going to coconut farms. If you go to Europe and America, there is tourism in farms. People go to visit wineries and other places like those. So, tourism should not only be limited to the beaches and using Mombasa as a stop-over for moving to other parts of the country. Aware of that, we need to do more in terms of both the infrastructure that would be linking up to those coconut farms and also in making the environment generally attractive for foreigners who feel at home in the region where there are not only beaches but also coconuts and other products that are valuable to this country. This is one way of also tackling the issue of the Mombasa Republic Council (MRC). As we tackle it, we need to accept that it is not a problem of the coast region. If the young people of the coast region are jobless, if land has been grabbed from them and they are facing other problems like insecurity, this is a common problem in Kenya. It is a common problem because we have not developed areas and opportunities that can occupy these young people so that they do not feel left out. So that is what we should be looking at and, therefore, as we address the issue of the coast and the MRC, we should also appreciate that it is a problem countrywide and think of how we can develop the rest of the country so that the majority of Kenyans who are poor, who are very much like the MRC in the rest of the country and even in the Coast Province, are catered for. There are many rich people; there is a percentage that is quite wealthy, but the problem is that we are not doing what we are supposed to do as a Government to ensure that there are enough investments or there is enough support for those who are poor in this country to"
}