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{
    "id": 575026,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/575026/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 177,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Prof.) Nyikal",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 434,
        "legal_name": "James Nyikal",
        "slug": "james-nyikal"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, hon. Temporary Deputy Speaker for giving me the opportunity to make a contribution on this. Productivity is the main issue of economic stability and the wealth of a nation. The main factors of productivity are basically land, capital and human resource. The other important factors have been mentioned in the content in the Sessional Paper. We have land and human resource in this country. Capital can always be raised. I am convinced that the growth of this country must be agro based. It is actually the biggest resource we have. If you look at many parts of this country, our agriculture is still backward in many ways. A lot of it is still peasantry and it can neither raise income nor bring foreign exchange. The other resource is the human labour, particularly the youth and women. This is an area that we have been talking on and off. We are still faced with the issue of lack of skill, particularly among the youth. I have interacted with the youth. We have made effort like the Uwezo Fund but what increasingly comes on and on is the lack of skills for the youth to take advantage of the land that we have and catapult us into modern production. Again, there is lack of motivation. Our education system has, to a large extent, produced people who come out to seek employment and not to find out how they can use the resources that are available to create livelihoods for themselves. Again, there is lack of support systems. However, I know this Government has made a big effort. It has brought in the Youth Enterprise Fund. We have changed the laws on procurement - I can see Hon. Sakaja, who has led this process where a lot has been done. I still think we need a lot more to be done in this area. Even if we have the Fund, if the youth do not know how to actually use its funds, how to do simple book-keeping, how to use modern equipment in the agro-industry and how to get into value addition, I do not think we will go far. The other area that I do not think we have done much is the identification of markets. A lot of young people can actually go into production, particularly in the agro-industry area and they are not able to get markets. Therefore, this creation of a centre in this policy is going to go a long way in helping us, particularly the youth, make use of the resources that we have like land, and move towards growing the agro-industry as our take off point in industrialisation. Therefore, this Sessional Paper is welcome. However, I also say that we have had many policies and Sessional Papers quoted, but a lot of them are actually lying on shelves gathering dust, and have not been implemented. The Ministry has done a good job by bringing this Sessional Paper. However, the most important thing is that immediately we pass it, and I appeal to Members to pass it, the Ministry should immediately put in place a strategic plan of actually implementing it, so that we can benefit from it; I believe we are going to pass it. With that, I support this Sessional Paper and I think we should pass it. Thank you."
}