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{
    "id": 67562,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/67562/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 172,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Chepkitony",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13,
        "legal_name": "Lucas Kipkosgei Chepkitony",
        "slug": "lucas-chepkitony"
    },
    "content": "Thank you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this Motion. It is very important to support this issue because it recurs after every two or three years or shorter than that. In 2009, this country had one of the worst droughts in its history. We ran short of food and we had to import a lot of it. A year later, there was over production of food, mainly grains. Eastern Province led in the production of food. There were good rains there after the drought, but the Government was not prepared to buy that maize. Maize was also produced from Bura and Hola irrigation schemes because the Government had pumped money through the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) to revive irrigation. Farmers waited for the NCPB and the Ministry of State for Special Programmes to buy the maize, but that did not happen. The maize went bad and the farmers incurred heavy losses. One would wonder the reason for reviving this irrigation scheme without planning how the maize would be purchased. This is because the farmers in that irrigation scheme do not have the capacity to transport the maize all the way to the market in Nairobi. So, the grain market has to be supported if we have to make irrigation viable and sustainable. The Government, through the Treasury, should consistently allocate funds, say, Kshs5 billion every year to purchase grains. We know that we have drought or food shortage after every two or three years. Like now we had famine in 2009. We, therefore, need consistency. Proper planning is the real thing. There is no way the Government can withdraw from supporting farmers because food security is very vital. The farmers must be supported with regard to livestock keeping, crop farming and all aspects of farming. After all, farming is still the backbone of this economy. Other sectors have been collapsing and we should not allow farming to collapse. We should always support it. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, with those few remarks, I support the Motion."
}