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{
    "id": 555179,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/555179/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 223,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. F.K. Wanyonyi",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2065,
        "legal_name": "Ferdinard Kevin Wanyonyi",
        "slug": "ferdinard-kevin-wanyonyi"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity. I also want to take this opportunity to support the Bill. It is a very important Bill in the agricultural sector. It provides for the legislative framework, development and governance of investment in this sector. I come from a maize growing area. When I took leadership of the region as a Member of Parliament, having worked in the lake region, I embarked on fish farming as an alternative to the predominant activity of maize farming. Today, my constituents have taken up the activity of aquaculture. As I speak, over 40 farmers in my area have fish ponds and they are very excited because of the income that is generated from aquaculture as opposed to maize farming, which takes a whole year to harvest. A farmer harvests fish twice in a year. This has been generating income for my people. Youth and women groups have been trained in aquaculture. This morning, I was talking to a banker and they are saying that they are going to help me work with them to develop this sector, which is the best alternative to the monopoly of maize farming. Secondly, this is a natural resource. As it is, fish farming offers jobs to the youth and women. However, I am afraid that generally in some areas like Lake Victoria, Lake Turkana and Lake Naivasha, there is a lot of exploitation and over fishing. This Bill will regulate fishing so that we do not over-exploit fish in these areas, particularly in Lake Victoria and Lake Naivasha. Even in Lake Turkana, some people are over-fishing and over-exploiting this resource. Therefore, this Bill will help us to regulate fishing activities in those areas. The other thing is that fish itself brings industrial development. We have fish processing that comes up. In my area, the Chinese are proposing to bring in a fish processing plant, which is a welcome idea. We will process the fish from the farmers for export or store it for some time and sell it to Kenyans. This will develop the sector further. We have fish first as food and as a source of generating income. The Bill will also ensure that the fish quality meets the international standards. As one of my colleagues has mentioned, sometimes we have a problem of exporting our fish because they do not meet international standards. Therefore, this Bill will deal with the sanitary issue in terms of how you handle fish from when it is fished, when it is processed up to the time it is exported. Our fish is natural as opposed to fish that we get from other The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}