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{
    "id": 468352,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/468352/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 211,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Currently, there are even better ways of doing irrigation. We have been relying on the open canal system, but the drip irrigation system is what is being used. One will argue that if you take irrigation to the arid areas and due to evaporation rates, there will be loss of water and it will not be cost effective. But now we have drip irrigation. Currently, Israel is using drip irrigation for crop production. Israel is 60 per cent desert. They use ground water to do irrigation. They export food to Europe during winter. The other country is Egypt. It is also a desert country which relies only on the River Nile. It is food sufficient and it is exporting. We know very well that our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is contributed by agriculture. If you look at the GDPs of these two countries; Israel has a GDP of US$31,000 while Egypt has a GDP of US$5,200 while Kenya has only a GDP of US$250 per capita. We are only using a third of our country. So, if we can use the two-thirds which is arid and semi-arid, we have a very big potential of improving our GDP and our livelihood. My first target is the people. Mine is to call upon the Government to speed up the process. We are also used to Government promises. So, I will not be surprised after five years, we will still be doing piloting and will have not implemented any of those one million hectares. Mine is to urge the Government to make good its promise to implement the one million hectares promise and start with the arid areas because the terrains are generally flat. It is easier doing irrigation in those flat areas. It will not be costly because you will not need to pump water. Most of it will be done by gravity flow. Mine is to second the Motion, thank the Mover for it and ask the Government to actually implement its promise. Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir."
}