Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 654171,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/654171/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 113,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Dr.) Ottichilo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 131,
        "legal_name": "Wilber Ottichilo Khasilwa",
        "slug": "wilber-ottichilo"
    },
    "content": "Resources Research Centre is established, I am very sure that most of our young researchers will find opportunities to enhance their education by carrying out a lot of research on plant varieties and seeds. This will create jobs for our youngsters and also create knowledge. I believe this country has very brilliant young people who can create a lot of knowledge and patent new discoveries. Most of the discoveries are in plant and animal resources. In Africa, very little has been done. Therefore, we are going the right direction by establishing the Plant Genetics Resources Research Centre. We will enhance this discipline, particularly on plant genetic resources. I commend those who drafted this Bill. They have done it in a very professional manner such that even the definition they have given for “plant genetic resources” is very wide and encompassing. It allows modern technologies and indigenous technologies. It is a very good definition which gives latitude to our people to do research across the board without any restriction. With the destruction of our environment, our genetic plant resources are at risk. At this juncture, we have already lost many plant species which were used by our ancestors for food and medicine. We have lost them because we have cleared most of our forests and wet lands. We have cleared all our indigenous forests. So, establishment of the Plant Genetics Resources Research Centre will give our researchers a chance to go back and carry out research and find some of these very important seeds and plant varieties that have been ignored, and which have not been used for many years. They will carry out research to re-domesticate them and introduce them in our food chain. We are at the advent of climate change. Climate change is the biggest threat to our plant varieties and animal species. Therefore, it is important that as climate change continues to have adverse effects on our environment, we must ensure that our plant and animal species that provide us with food are collected and more research is done on them so that they can adapt to the changing environment. This is extremely important. If this Bill is passed, it will ensure that we save some of our plant species that are already threatened by climate change. Climate change has completely changed our climate in terms of temperatures, humidity and everything. Some of the plants cannot sustain those changes and, as a result, they are getting extinct. We need to preserve these plants in natural and manmade environments. We have to keep them in green houses. Some have to be exported or kept in certain laboratories outside the country. The best place to conserve any plant species or seed is in the Antarctic and Arctic. Those are the areas which are very cold that if you keep your seeds there, they can remain viable for over a million years. We may need to work with many other research institutions in Iceland, Norway and Sweden so that we can keep some of these seed varieties to ensure that they are not lost or they become extinct. The Centre is also going to be extremely important in networking with many other institutions. The developed world has already done what we are trying to do now. The United States of America (USA) has already taken an inventory of all their seeds and plant varieties and stored them. So, the establishment of this Centre is also going to allow our researchers to work with other researchers out there to ensure that we conserve these plant varieties for future research. Once this Bill becomes law, it is going to ensure that our research institutions, particularly our universities, become more vibrant. One of the world renowned plant genetics expert and policy maker is Prof. Calestous Juma, who is at the University of Harvard. He is one 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."
}