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{
    "id": 391427,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/391427/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 250,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wangari",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13123,
        "legal_name": "Martha Wangari",
        "slug": "martha-wangari"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir. I also want to thank the Mover for his generosity. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I was telling one Senator that I could pick tea even before I went to primary school. I have grown in tea farms; I have grown up seeing coffee and this Motion is such a breath of fresh air because we have supported very many Motions on livestock. It is really a breath of fresh air to have something touching on the coffee and tea. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, not only are we the largest – we are actually the fourth largest tea producer and second biggest exporter in this country and we cannot overemphasize the importance of tea and coffee in this country. I was in New York last week and we went to one of the offices – I think the Office of the State Comptroller – with my Committee and we were served Kenyan tea. The reason we were served Kenyan tea – whether it was as an act of public relations or just a welcome note for Kenyans – shows that our tea is recognized globally. It is such a sad situation to see and even read that there are countries which use our coffee, because it is the best in the world, to blend their poor coffee and still sell the same to us. When I was growing up, I remember it got to some point that we actually brought down coffee – we cut down coffee plantations – and planted maize and nappier grass. That was by experience because it had become such a zero point. We could pick coffee and tea – and it is hard work; the women there really toil hard because you pick when there is rain or sunshine – but the returns were not commensurate with what the people were going through. The women could stay in the buying centres up to morning, and we took coffee to the factories – which were many kilometres away. I do not even know how we used to survive, but somehow we did, because you cannot keep it in your house. In fact, if you have tea stay overnight, then it loses value; first of all, it loses weight and, secondly, it is perishable and, therefore, you cannot get the maximum value. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, value addition has been alluded to; this cannot be overemphasized, and it has to be a shared responsibility of 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."
}