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"id": 6394,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/6394/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Mr. Kinyanjui",
"speaker_title": "The Assistant Minister for Roads",
"speaker": {
"id": 48,
"legal_name": "Lee Maiyani Kinyanjui",
"slug": "lee-kinyanjui"
},
"content": "Over the years, we have not been able to strengthen this institution to meet the rising challenges of food production especially for a population that is growing. As you know, we are approximately 40 million people. Therefore, the institution should have grown proportionately to be able to meet this challenge. As you are aware, the issue of food security is, indeed, a national security matter. If we do not have food, we are going to have riots in this town. The issue of the cost of unga is an issue of national security. Therefore, we must support this Motion to give relief to our farmers and encourage them to do much more. As we talk of the AFC, we must also look at the other institutions that had been formed to support the farmer. Where I come from in the larger Nakuru County, we are the biggest producers of pyrethrum. In the early 60s, we formed the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya that was supposed to help the farmers to produce the crop, process and sell it internationally, having acquired the patent rights that are domiciled at the Board. But like many other institutions under the Ministry of Agriculture, the Pyrethrum Board of Kenya is on its death bed. Earlier in the 60s and the 70s, Kenya produced 80 per cent of the world’s pyrethrum. We were, therefore, able to command much of the price. We were able to dictate the price, have better employment for our people and get a lot of foreign exchange from this crop. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as it is today, the crop has come down. The many people who were employed in this sector are not, therefore, able to get employment and the much needed foreign exchange cannot, therefore, be earned. Efforts to revive this institution have not been successful and this is partly because at the helm of the Ministry, we have had significant frustrations in trying to resolve matters relating to pyrethrum in this country. Efforts by even the Head of State to give direction on how the mater should be resolved have fallen on deaf ears. Therefore, we are calling upon the policy makers in the Ministry to look into these crops that were once the biggest foreign exchange earners and provided employment opportunities in this country. On the same thought, I would also want to agree with the Members who have shared here that we have had a lot of land sub-division especially in areas where we have huge production. This has, over the years, compromised food security because we are not able to fully mechanize our farms when the acreage is small. This is going on even in areas like Kitale which is the food basket of this country. This is where we get most of our maize. If this is also not checked, we will not move forward. When we talk of crop failure that has occasioned some of the defaults that we have found in AFC, it would be important to look at what other banks are doing to mitigate against losses. If you walk into any bank today and you want to get a mortgage, there is what they call mortgage insurance. So, in the event that the person who is servicing this loan is not able to meet the obligation, either because of death or other reasons, the insurance takes up the loan and the family will not suffer as a result of that. I would wish that institutions like the AFC would incorporate in their financing, an insurance policy that would take care of farmers. We have crop failure arising from weather patterns that the farmer could not predict. This would ensure that we reduce the high default rates that we have had over the years. It is also worth noting that Kenya is surrounded by countries that are food deficient from Somalia, Southern Sudan to a bit of Tanzania. A lot of crops that are grown here, if properly marketed, have a wider market even beyond east Africa. I would, therefore, ask the Government to look for ways to enhance our production because the market is guaranteed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I also wish to take this opportunity to say that we need to restructure the financing of these loans to our farmers. A lot of times, we give them the money without proper training. It has been proven that if you give money to any business person or farmer without proper training, the possibility of them servicing the loan is largely compromised. A lot of our farmers do not have any training both on the agricultural methods and also on the financial part of it. Therefore, I would request the AFC to train our farmers both on record keeping and on how to manage their finances. This will ensure that they are able to service their loans at the appropriate time. Lastly, I wish to implore the Ministry of Agriculture to appreciate that the huge burden of unemployment in this country can best be solved if we avail financing to the young people through the AFC and other institutions. Every year, we have famine in this country and the Government has readily availed money to buy maize or wheat from other countries to feed our people. If you look at the quantities that were bought last year, if the same had been produced here, we would have employed over 500,000 young people in that particular year. Therefore, if the money that we are asking is given in good time, we would employ the young people, come next year, and save the country from spending that money in areas that are not necessary. In this country, we have areas with varied degrees of potential. Some people would call others marginalized and others high potential, but there is no part in this country where you cannot get something of economic value to this country. In areas of high agricultural potential like Kitale, parts of Narok and other places where you can get up to 20 bags of maize per acre, we need to increase our financing because for every shilling that you put there, you will probably get Kshs3 as opposed to funding the bigger irrigation projects in areas where you are not even guaranteed rains. That will mean that our return on investment for those particular projects will be enhanced if we focus on areas where we can get much more. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, on the main crops like wheat, we produce about 35 per cent of our demand in the country. The rest comes from COMESA countries or other countries. The biggest question that we should be asking ourselves is: Since we have the land and the people who are ready work, where is the gap? This is the area where the AFC and other financing agents can come in to ensure that we meet this gap and ensure that the country is food secure. With those comments, I support the Motion. I thank the Mover and the Seconder of the same."
}