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{
    "id": 391380,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391380/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 203,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "that is involved in the produce that the farmer deals with. The most affected are the tea and coffee farmers. There are various challenges which face these farmers and some of them are issues that we can deliberate on and solve. One of the biggest challenges that the Kenyan farmer faces is in the area of marketing their produce. There is hardly any strategy that is used to market some of the cash crops that is beneficial to the farmer. I know of countries like Sri Lanka which do tea farming. There are certain strategies which they use in their marketing processes that are useful to the farmer. For example, in Sri Lanka, the farmer is cushioned when the prices of cash crops fluctuate in the market. The Government subsidizes the farmer so that they are assured of some earning irrespective of whether the world market is down or up or whether the weather is unfavourable. This model has been useful in keeping the farmer afloat when there are various difficulties. Because we are trading in the same market with Sri Lanka, it is important that we also learn from some of these tactics that they are using in order to market our cash crops. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, there is a lot of useful information and knowledge through ICT. We have always traded our tea in the long room in Mombasa. That involves transporting the product from where it is produced all the way to Mombasa in order to trade. With the arrival of e-information, it is now critical that we use e-trading in order to sell our produce straight from our factories where we make them to wherever the buyer is sitting, be it in Europe or the United States without necessarily having to go to the long room. Now that the model of e-trading has now taken root the world over, it is important that farmers of this country take advantage of this in order to maximize on the possible profits that will accrue from using this new tactic. So, there are ways in which we can change the way in which we trade in order to be able to maximize on the profits. I say this because I know that with e-trading, we will lock out one of the greatest nuisances in trading in the long room and that is the brokers. The brokers earn much more than the farmer because they can manipulate, fix prices and virtually do anything they want with the produce which is sold at the auction. With e-trading, this will be curtailed and the earnings that have been disappearing into the brokers’ pockets will be significantly reduced or completely removed altogether. The accruing benefits will go to the farmer. I think e-trade is not very difficult to adopt because it is already being applied in other markets where bulk commodities like tea and coffee are being traded. It is possible to do this in order to help the farmer who deals with cash crops. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the other thing which we could do in order to save the farmer is to remove unnecessary taxation. I know for sure as we stand and debate this Motion today here, the tea farmer in this country is paying ad valorem tax, which is tax levied only on tea as far as I am concerned and as far as I know. What is frustrating and annoying is that the tax accruing from ad valorem is used to do things that the farmer has not been consulted on. These are things which could be done elsewhere. For example, the"
}