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{
    "id": 670272,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/670272/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 169,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Hon. (Ms.) Nyamunga",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 738,
        "legal_name": "Rose Nyamunga Ogendo",
        "slug": "rose-nyamunga-ogendo"
    },
    "content": "Another example that I want to give is that we had about 7,477 production units in an estimated area of 7,200 hectares by 2007. That is after introduction of the economic stimulus programme. The mean yield from fish farming was approximately 5.8 metric tonnes per year. That is from aquaculture compared to 4,454 metric tonnes of the total annual fish production. That is a very low production. Currently, the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) training institution offers diploma in fisheries and aquatic sciences. The University of Eldoret offers Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences. The University of Nairobi offers Bachelor of Science in Fisheries and Aquaculture management. Egerton University offers Bachelor of Science in Applied Aquatic Sciences and Moi University offers Bachelor of Science in Fisheries. That is at the university level. What happens to the lower level? Most people who are involved in fishing have not reached the university level of education. So, I urge the Government and the House that we should look at this matter so that we start it at the very beginning. If we do that, we will know how to handle the lake, the gears as required and how to move step by step so that when it reaches the level of the university, people will, at least, have moved from the certificate to the diploma, to the higher diploma. It should cut across the whole nation and the resources we have. That way, we will eventually improve our production and start industrialising our country. We cannot do it by word of mouth. It is important that we put it into practice and that our people at whatever level know so that a child is trained from the beginning. If you train a child when they are old enough, they may miss the point but if you start training them when they are still young, they will get it right and it will move on and it can be passed from generation to generation. We know that the waters we have are very limited in volume and that is known in the African continent. The proposed programme should be designed to produce aquatic scientists able to teach, research, advise and formulate policies for better management of aquatic ecosystems. The graduates of such programmes will engage in self-employment as fishermen. Fish farmers with good water quality consultants can also be employed in the fisheries department as managers, policy makers and environmental health officers. In addition, the graduates can be employed as researchers and lecturers in marine and fresh water and in institutions like universities. It is very important and I am very passionate about this. I urge my colleagues to see the need of industrialising this country instead of all the time comparing ourselves with other nations who have made it. They have made it because they took everything seriously and they nurtured the little things they had. In my view, there has been a big failure and the failure should be taken by all of us. However, the fact that we have failed does not mean that we cannot make corrections. It is important that we start. We are not at a crossroad where it is either we industrialise and move forward or we lose it. It is not going to happen in our time when we are watching. However, we cannot do it if we do not nurture what we have. About the storage system, I know there is devolution and some of these things should be taken at the county government level, but there is an aspect that the national Government can also take. Preservation of natural resources is a role of the national Government. I beg to move the Motion and take this opportunity to ask Hon. Cecilia Ngetich to second."
}