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{
    "id": 381596,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/381596/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 93,
    "type": "other",
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    "content": "livestock keepers and crop growers. For example, Lord Delamere kept both cattle and did a little of farming. Let me give you one example; the pork industry in Uplands. It was very well developed and those who grew pigs could go and value add on pigs. Pigs were never exported to this country. Uplands is one of the oldest factories in Kenya producing what the Farmers Choice does now. Here was a very good example of an integrated industry with the livestock industry. A good example of value addition is that pork was consumed during the World War II and even during the Vietnam War. A lot of our pork was exported in that manner. So, we have examples that should be followed. What I am trying to say is that when you look at our livestock industry, and Sen. Lonyangapuo pointed at West Pokot, Turkana, Baringo, Samburu, Garissa and Mandera, and I am sure, he also gave figures from the coast region where livestock is kept, but he was trying to say where the majority of livestock is kept. Just next to us is Maasai land. The Maasais are known as being successful and enterprising livestock keepers. Why is it that we are now beginning to see a reduction of livestock in Maasai land? The threat to livestock in Maasai land is comparable to the threat to coffee in Kiambu. Once land use begins to change and once people begin to value land in a different way, they change their economic activities. You can see that real estate is eating up coffee land in Kiambu. Very soon, coffee will be gone because people value real estate more than coffee. The same is happening in Maasai land. People are buying more and more land in Maasai for purposes of speculation, for horticulture development, ranch development or this kind of tourism. Very soon, you will find that the livestock is gone. There will be no difference in North Eastern, for example. Once the programme is on the way, the value of land will change and people will begin appreciating real estate and other things, then livestock will be a thing of the past. At the same time, we need livestock. We should think of the future, that is, about 50 years to come; how are we going to develop livestock? Are we going to do it by relying on large expanses of land where livestock roam, where then we have to call for disease free areas because we think that these large expanses of land will be forever be used by livestock? It may or it may not. As policy makers, we must begin thinking of time action plan. How do we do this? We must always regard the Government’s role as a regulatory agency. The Government can also go into production if we have very successful state enterprises like the rest of the world. China is a good example. In our case, the Agricultural Development Corporation (ADC) was quite successful until vultures in the state started breaking it apart by taking its land and so on. The Government might be both a regulatory agency and a factor input provider. In agriculture and livestock, the Government’s role as a factor input provider is very important because elsewhere in the world, agriculture is always subsidized by the State; be it France, United States of America and so on. There is nowhere in the capitalist world today where agriculture is not subsidized for farmers to be successful. In that regard, if we want the livestock industry to succeed, the Government must assume the very intensive role of being a factor input provider. Why has the Government been successful as a factor input provider in agriculture better than livestock? This is because the agricultural class in Kenya since colonial times was quite powerful. So, they set up the AFC which was channeling funds to agriculture. If you 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."
}