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{
    "id": 391413,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391413/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 236,
    "type": "other",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "our coffee farmers can get as much money as even those people who consume it elsewhere. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we travel to see and compare, but many are the times we go to other countries and when we come back, we forget that we have learnt things. We should go to other places and see how a country like China can afford to feed 1.3 billion people. The population of China is more than the whole of Africa. That is so because the Government or the state has supported the farmers in China so much so that they even undertake to do some research on their own; they give the research resources to the farmers and the farmers feel that they are protected. When there are typhoons and cyclones in China, the Government will come in and protect the farmer. What is wrong with the Government protecting the farmers when they are facing some difficulties, and yet these are the same people who will feed the country? So, this is what we are seeking this Motion to do. Since that is our opportunity cost, let us develop that because there is nothing that can happen. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, we need to take liberalization policies cautiously. When we talk of the prices and say that the production of coffee and tea has been liberalized, we need to be careful because farmers might not even understand this policy of liberalization. There are some fellows who will be out there to take away all that the farmers have done in their farms, and they even manage to sell these products – coffee and tea – when they know that the market will, at one time, be high and without the knowledge of the farmer. We need the farmer’s knowledge to be taken care of; we need to have extension workers to advise these farmers to know exactly how they should go about production and marketing of their produce. That is all we are asking for. We are not asking the Government to take the produce and sell it. It is about sensitization of the farmers to understand when is the best time to sell their produce so that even when the product is held awaiting the marketing time, then the farmers will not suffer. That is what we are supporting in the Motion. Without supporting this Motion, then my people out there will ask me “what are you doing in the Senate?” These are farmers who are growing coffee and tea, and I hope they are seeing me wherever they are, if we are being covered by the media. With those few remarks, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I beg to support. Thank you very much."
}