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{
"id": 334074,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/334074/?format=api",
"text_counter": 228,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Dr. Otichilo",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 131,
"legal_name": "Wilber Ottichilo Khasilwa",
"slug": "wilber-ottichilo"
},
"content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I rise to, first of all, congratulate the Minister for bringing this Bill. This Bill is very important because it is consolidating so many laws on crops that have been retrogressive in agricultural production of these crops. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we have more than 20 laws on various crops. Because of this the management and planning of these crops has been haphazard. There has been a lot of conflict and interest. That is why you will find that quite a number of crops have collapsed. We have had very many boards that manage particular crops. This is a big cost on the Exchequer and on the Ministry. So, it is important that we consolidate all these laws into one law. I want to congratulate the Minister for doing so. However, there are a number of issues in this Bill that need to be relooked at and if possible amendments made at the appropriate time. First and foremost, we need to define specifically what we mean by “scheduled crop” and “non-scheduled crop,” because this is very important. You will find crops like maize, sorghum and beans are under the category of “scheduled crop.” If a crop, according to this Bill, is a scheduled crop, you need registration for you to grow it. I think this is not correct because there are certain food crops that are grown by everybody. Therefore, we need to be very clear on this aspect so that our small-scale farmers do not find that for them to grow maize or beans they will have to get a licence. This can also become a major problem. That is one area that I believe we will need to have some amendments. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we also need to have some amendments under Clause 9, on the establishment of the Commodities Fund. This is a very good fund. If this fund is well managed, it will really promote the production of various crops in this country. This is because currently, the Ministry gets very little money for growing various crops. Therefore, having a dedicated fund will really promote crop production. However, looking at the sources of funds to this Commodities Fund, I find that most of it comes from levies charged on scheduled crops. Again, I can imagine that you will not charge a levy on food crops like maize or sorghum. So, I would like the Minister to look at other sources because it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure that this country has adequate food. We must get money from the Consolidated Fund because any country that cannot feed her people is not worthy calling itself a sovereign State. So, under this fund, we have no choice, but to get money from the Consolidated Fund with the approval of Parliament. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, one other area where I am very happy is that this Bill is proposing that the Ministry will be able to designate certain areas for growing certain crops. Currently, people choose to grow crops anywhere regardless whether those areas are suitable or not. As a result, they face many challenges. For example, people are growing maize in arid areas without irrigation. So, under this Bill different areas will be designated for growing certain crops. We must make sure that we follow certain agronomical procedures before we decide what variety of crop to grow in those areas. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also like this Bill because it is giving many incentives to our farmers to produce food. Currently, we are not giving incentives to our"
}