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{
    "id": 398556,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/398556/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 116,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Njomo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 1784,
        "legal_name": "Jude L. Kangethe Njomo",
        "slug": "jude-l-kangethe-njomo"
    },
    "content": "Hon. Deputy Speaker, on behalf of the people of Kenya and on behalf of this House I would like to thank God for giving us a country with plenty of water and many mountains that tap water from the skies. We, however, have to blame ourselves because we do not use this water effectively. We do not preserve water during the rainy periods, so that we can use it during the dry spells. If you remember, during the biblical times there was a period of seven years of harvest. It was only because of prudent management that people were able to store from their harvest to take care of the following seven years of drought. As a country, we should be prudent and forward looking. We should know that for our country to be self sufficient in food we must preserve our waters, and must do irrigation. I would like to support this Motion and urge the Government to construct many dams, so that our farmers do irrigation. Currently, only a few farmers are able to do irrigation. Only those who have estates and big farms and are endowed with finances are able to do irrigation. Rather than Government rushing to import food during drought to feed those who are affected by famine, it should provide dams for our farmers so that they carry out irrigation, especially in areas where gravity irrigation can take place. There are many countries which do not have arable land, but they are able to farm because they have invested heavily in agriculture. I am thinking of Israel. I saw a documentary the other day showing how farming is done in a desert in Somalia. Enough food was got from this desert. That is exactly what we should do. We need to provide our farmers with enough water and then we allow them to do farming. They will provide us with food."
}