{"id":598418,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/598418/?format=json","text_counter":170,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"THAT, aware that Article 43(1)(c) of the Constitution provides that every person has the right to be free from hunger and to have adequate food of acceptable quality; further aware that Kenya’s food production is heavily dependent on rain-fed agriculture; cognisant of the fact that counties such as Kitui, Makueni and Machakos in semi-arid and arid lower Eastern part of the country experience perennial food shortages due to inadequate rainfall; noting that these counties however receive seasonal rainfall whose water can be harnessed and stored for irrigation; appreciating that the Government has invested heavily in the National Youth Service in terms of machinery and technical training; this House urges the Government to consider engaging the labour force and machinery of the National Youth Service to construct earth-dams for harnessing water for irrigation with a view to enhancing food production and alleviating hunger among the residents of the said counties and other semi-arid and arid regions of this country."}