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{
    "id": 706263,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/706263/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 235,
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    "content": "done through the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). However, the legal system that governs how farmers can access the NCPB stores, its obligations and the rights of farmers, does not exist. Therefore, this Bill is trying to provide that legal framework. As I have said, the Bill is aimed at ensuring that when there is a glut or overproduction of agricultural commodities – not just exclusive of cereals and grains, but any agricultural produce - and the prices are not good, farmers can have certified, licensed and registered warehouse keepers. They can receive those goods and warehouse for them. In return, the farmers are issued with a receipt known as a warehouse receipt. The purpose of the receipt is-: (1) Evidence that you have delivered the said and the described amount of goods. (2) It is a negotiable instrument. This means the farmer can actually transfer those commodities that are in the warehouse without returning to the warehouse. They can transfer proprietary rights or ownership rights of that commodity by endorsing that receipt to another person. It is like a cheque in the days of endorsement.Therefore, it is to enable farmers to transfer propriety rights over the warehoused commodities without going back to the warehouse. (3) The receipt can be used as collateral to enable farmers to access accredit. It is evidence that farmer “x” has 100 bags of potatoes or maize or beans stored in a particular warehouse which is described in that receipt. So, they can use that to get credit and, later on, when the commodity is sold or received back, they can pay back that loan that they have taken. It is a form of collateral. Therefore, this has come at a very important time in our country when we are oscillating between seasons of plenty and seasons of luck. This Bill will help our country to deal with finality, once and for all, with the shame and the humiliation that we have put our people through in many parts of our country in times of insufficient rain or in times of drought. There is no connection between drought and farming. There are countries in this world where there is perennial drought, but there is no farming. For example, there are countries in the Middle East where it does not rain throughout the year, but we have never heard of famine in the Middle East. Not a single person has died in those countries because of lack of food. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, our problem is very simple. As I have said, one is we have seasons when there is overproduction followed maybe after a while with seasons when there is no production. The fact that we do not have a way of storing the food we have and making sure that we store it to take care of us on a rainy day, farmers end up storing it in poor facilities. It ends up getting bad in the individual stores that our farmers have across the country. We have seen maize, especially in Ukambani going bad because of aflotoxin where the moisture content exceeds what is allowed. This is because of poor storage and poor post-harvesting techniques. The other problem we have in our country is that it is not always true that when there is drought in the country that the entire country is dry. You can have one part of the country suffering and people dying of hunger while at the other corner people are struggling on what to do with the crop which is going bad right before them in their farms and stores. This is an issue of distribution. Therefore, the warehouse receipts system will help us store food, map the country and see where that food is needed so that they can save lives. Further, you can have a The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate"
}