Entry Instance

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

{
    "id": 784171,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/784171/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 365,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": null,
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we analyse politics a lot in this country. When we were campaigning, you could see many political analysts on television channels, analysing the political situation in the country. We also need to analyse the weather patterns and make it simple for wananchi to understand. If we do this, farmers can then prepare themselves to get capital to prepare fields and seed for planting. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, we also need to fund our farmers. When farmers want to produce food and have parcels of land and might even have the water, they may not have the seeds and the technological know-how. The Ministry should look for a mechanism of disseminating information to farmers on which type of crops can be grown during the short rainy season. When we were young, there were the agricultural extension officers, who used to go round and educate our people on how to do certain agricultural activities. I also understand from history shared by our parents that when you wanted to keep a certain breed of animal, the colonial system used to dictate the systems you should put in place to keep that kind of cow. However today, our people do not have such information and we need to prepare our county governments. The departments of agriculture should educate our people on the best crops to be planted during a particular season. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I also support the Bill because it is talking about purchase. Can our people afford food? Access is also in terms of whether you can afford food. When you do not have a certain kind of food that is in another county, would you afford it? Therefore, we need to put systems in place to enable our people to afford the kind of food they want. This Bill also sets out systems of food distribution. When we do not have food or when we get food from different institutions and programs; how do we distribute them in our countries? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill but I am reluctant in supporting the formation of an authority. Even though we need to have an entity to be accountable in any policy or framework, I do not support the formation of many authorities that will require human resources and funding. This is because we already have existing institutions, which we should strengthen. For example, we already have an intergovernmental council, the ADN and many other agricultural institutions that can do the same work if we fund them adequately and give them the mandate so that they can look into the same Bill. I am also reluctant about forming an organisation that is not devolved to the counties, because agriculture has been devolved. The Bill should promote the same spirit of devolving the thinking of food production and security to the counties so that we can make the counties accountable. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, another issue that makes me a bit reluctant in supporting the Bill is pastoralism, which is a way of life to many of our communities has not been adequately addressed. It is also a way of food production. Therefore, if we are talking about food security, we also need to look into how to strengthen pastoralism, the fish sector and all other types of production, not only the crop farmers. Therefore, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, I support the Bill and urge the Committee to look into ways of strengthening a few of the policies and also avoid the issue of duplication of roles through the authorities that we are creating. 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."
}