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{
    "id": 518328,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/518328/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 225,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Therefore, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, what I am trying to drive at is that the Potato Produce and Marketing Bill must first begin from the assumption that potato produce is very important for the diet of Kenyans; particularly, the so-called Irish potatoes or, waru, as it is known in central Kenya. Sweet potatoes are more nutritious and energy providing than the other potatoes, which was good for the Irish but not good for us. That one is very good for chips but not very good for the basic diet of a people living in the tropics and being harassed by the sun as we are now, who, therefore, need a lot of energy. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I believe that the key tenet - I hope Sen. (Eng.) Muriuki is aware that his Nyandarua County is a big potato producing county - when we finish with the Second Reading of this Bill and come to the Committee Stage, amendments will be brought to broaden the conception of the potato industry and to include the provision of capital intensive potato production in the hands of peasant farmers and small holders just like the KTDA was established. Potato production in places like Nyandarua has not been in large scale. It has been peasant-based and by small farmers. Production of sweet potatoes is very successful in South Nyanza, Nyakach, Nyabondo Plateau and Kasipul Kabondo areas. This extends to Kisii which is one of the best producers of sweet potatoes. Currently, sweet potatoes are poorly marketed. Middlemen and women sharks take huge trucks to the area during favourable seasons to collect these potatoes in huge sacks and pay farmers below wage returns. What I mean is that, the value of a commodity is measured by the value of labour that goes to produce it. Labour includes both dead labour; in terms of instruments and capital and living labour; in terms of the workforce. Capital is not disembodied entirely from labour. Capital is labour accumulated in technology over time. It includes substantial amount of intellectual labour and science which produces the technology. That is why those of us who are in developing countries are unfortunately beholden to technology which is overpriced because we are mesmerised by the intellectual labour put in this technology in foreign cultures. If we could produce appropriate technology in our own economy, we would perhaps realise that it should not cost us much. That is why India has developed so fast. Many years ago, Japan developed so fast because they went and found the secret of certain forms of technology, produced them realistically with the labour value that was not exploitative as a capitalised world had generated. Therefore, the appropriate technology that was produced for farming purposes has made it easier for India and other economies to invest in agriculture at a much less cost in terms of capital investment than we have, having relied on almost entirely in received technology from highly developed capitalist countries, therefore, overpricing these technology for our production. Therefore, I hope this Bill will take care of these things. Let us not just go the traditional way where we are concerned about who comes and collects commodities and goes to sell it. Then, we begin thinking that when you produce potatoes, there must be a ready market for it. Indeed, there is a ready market for potatoes produced in Kasipul Kabondo area in Nyabondo Plateau although it is a market that is highly exploitative because of pirates on potatoes during the good seasons when the price is very low. It does not really reward the farmers and give them value for their labour and investment. That must be taken into consideration. I hope that the potato industry that we 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."
}