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{
    "id": 381555,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381555/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 52,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Hargura",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 827,
        "legal_name": "Godana Hargura",
        "slug": "godana-hargura"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for the opportunity to second this Motion. I would like to appeal to Senators to support this Motion because it is very important to some parts of this country, especially the arid and semi arid areas which comprises two thirds of this country and more than a quarter of the population. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what we have is a situation where people have been left to run their lives at their own whims without any policy framework support from the Government. We know very well that before and after Independence, this country was divided into high and low potential areas. We know the Sessional Paper which was referred to yesterday was biased towards the so-called high potential areas. That is where agriculture is well developed. This is because they have good infrastructure when it comes to the roads. I am biased towards the roads because that is what I know. We have the rural roads development which was biased towards access to markets for farm produce. That is a good idea. Those of us from the pastoralist areas have no problem with that. We know very well that even if you grow whatever crop, be it tea or coffee, if you do not have the roads and the marketing structure like the Kenya Tea Development Agency (KTDA), the Coffee Board of Kenya (CBK), the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya (PBK) and the National Irrigation Board (NIB)--- If we do not have that, the coffee and tea farms will turn into bushes. That is why the Government should provide the infrastructure for the sector to flourish as one of the major economic drivers of this country; as a foreign exchange earner and as a source of employment. On the other side, the livestock sector has not received similar attention and I dare say that even the livestock we are talking about in the current set up is the beef and dairy industry which is under the ranches which fall within the high potential areas. Those of us who do free range livestock production have just been left to our own whims and that is why we fight for it. The Government should come up with the necessary policies to make sure that it becomes a meaningful source of livelihood to the people. There is need to also target the other animals like sheep, goats and camels that do well in the arid and semi arid areas. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we know very well that it is the responsibility of every county Government to establish the necessary support infrastructure for its people in order to do business that will improve their socio-economic status. This is a function of the national Government because it is talking about policy formulation. I believe policy formulation in the agricultural sector is still bestowed on the national Government and The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}