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{
    "id": 620749,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/620749/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 83,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. Mohamed Abass",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 2983,
        "legal_name": "Abass Sheikh Mohamed",
        "slug": "abass-sheikh-mohamed"
    },
    "content": "missing their mainstay. Livestock die in large numbers. Almost Kshs60 billion is lost every time there is frequent drought. Of late, drought has become so frequent. In the past, most of the time, drought mitigation interventions were supported by donors. That is a very unfortunate situation. This country needs to take things seriously that a third of Kenyans depend on livestock and they lose their mainstay because of drought. The Drought Management Authority will mitigate the effects of drought. The other thing is that we lack expertise to mitigate drought in this country. In other parts of the world, mitigation is well taken care of. A country like the USA, whose land is covered by snow for about nine months during winter, still survives because they have mitigation measures to ensure food security. They also take care of their livestock unlike in this country where a three-month dry spell leads to loss of both crops and livestock. At such times, people are fed with imported maize. This is not fair for this country at this time. Another thing that I have noted is that farmers in other sectors get compensation when they lose their crops to drought. However, when farmers lose their livestock due to drought, the Government does not compensate them. Instead, they give them maize as relief food. This is very unfortunate. We need to compensate farmers, so that they can keep on producing livestock. As a country, we need meat and milk. Due to drought, we always experience conflicts in many parts of the country, especially where there are livestock keepers. This is due to lack of compensation for livestock lost to drought. Given the fact that the number of livestock that survives drought is minimal, livestock keepers tend to fight over scarce resources like pasture and water. If we can plan in time, we can save our livestock and take care of the people who survive droughts. We, therefore, need to have an effective drought mitigating system. The National Drought Management Authority that has been in place for a very long time has been depending on donor funding since it has not been receiving resources from the Government. It is high time we started giving the National Drought Management Authority enough resources to enable them take care of drought mitigation systems. About 80 per cent of this country is ASAL. Ironically, that 80 per cent of our land mass is turning out to be the only area that produces food. What is happening in Galana/Kulalu is a good gesture by the current Government. We are now able to produce more food for this nation. As Hon. Members may be aware, population has increased in most parts of our highland areas with the size of land decreasing by the day. As a result, food production has decreased. We need to take our priorities to the dry lands and harvest a lot of water. With time, this country can be food-sufficient if we plan well. I believe that the National Drought Management Authority can take appropriate measures. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}