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{
    "id": 531380,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/531380/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 352,
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    "content": "but they eat. So, we must look at how we can cushion our nation from the pangs of hunger, starvation and famine, notwithstanding the horrible phenomenon of climate change. Egypt is 99 per cent desert. Similarly, Israel is 99 per cent if not 100 per cent desert. But today, those two countries are the leading exporters of horticultural produce. So, let us not dwell on rainfall so much. I am not saying that we do not need rainfall. I have given you examples of countries where there is no rainfall, but they eat, drink and have a lot to spare. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, it is not true that this Bill is just trying to create an authority to respond when there is drought. I heard two Senators contributing and trying to purport that this Bill is just to help us deal with famine and the effects of drought. That is not true. This Bill tries to create an authority to help us prevent drought where possible. But in the likely or unlikely event of drought, the Bill will help us mitigate the effects of that drought and respond in terms of contingency measures when drought has struck. Today, cattle are dying in many parts of this country. Therefore, I am surprised when somebody tries to tell me that this is not a serious matter because it has been given enough attention. The number one threat to even national security today is drought. Farmers are losing their livestock. I am speaking with a lot of pain because even in my own county, permanent rivers where animals used to drink from have dried up. People in my county have to travel for 70 kilometres with their animals to get water; then one wants to tell me that this is an idle matter that we can trivialize. I want to reiterate that even if it means abolishing 50 other parastatals and strengthening this one, I will advocate for that kind of intervention. When I say so, I am not just speaking for the people of Tharaka-Nithi County, but for nearly three quarters of the counties of this country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, lastly, the Senator for Trans Nzoia has talked about the inclusion of climate change and environment issues. We are jumbling issues. Drought management is about actually food security and making sure that our livestock and crop yields are able to be sustained with or without precipitation. So, do not mix issues. Climate change is already a very complex issue, which has to do with the control of carbon and greenhouse gases which we have no control over. So, if you bring the issue of climate change here, which is a separate and complex scientific phenomenon, you are jumbling up issues. I would rather we have climate change as a different issue, because we are talking about things like environmental modification techniques; very sophisticated science. That is part of the solutions that might be found when looking at the climate change from that perspective. Some countries even create their own rainfall. This is called environmental modification techniques, where you just use nitrogen to strike the clouds and then rain will come down, which is not very different from rainmaking. The only difference is that you use science instead of magic. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, with those remarks, I beg to move."
}