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{
    "id": 799783,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/799783/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 142,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Wetangula",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 210,
        "legal_name": "Moses Masika Wetangula",
        "slug": "moses-wetangula"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, let me declare my interest. I am a maize farmer and I have got very close friends who are maize farmers, including the gentleman that Sen. Murkomen was talking about. In the old days, we had three pillars of farming which were the NCPB, the Kenya Farmers Association (KFA) and the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC). A farmer could borrow money from AFC to go and do his farming; he took tools and fertiliser from KFA on promissory notes; delivered maize to cereals boards and the NCPB would calculate and pay KFA, AFC and the farmer. It was seamless. We did not have these problems. Today, the farmer is the most unappreciated person in this country. In fact, it is amazing that they farm year in year out. Right now, the maize is almost tasseling but the last year’s harvest is in the stores. I want to urge that the Government makes a serious attempt to fleece some expenditure elsewhere and pay the farmers. If we want to feed the country, we cannot continue hurting the farmer. That is why the statement brought by the distinguished Senator for Uasin Gishu is so apt. Uasin Gishu, Trans Nzoia, Bungoma, Nandi and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties produce three quarters of the cereal produce in this country. With good rains, the former eastern province and the area of the Chair produce about five million bags but in the western region, the rains are always there. Today, we are grumbling about how to help the farmer. The farming community has been taken away by goondas. I saw the other day in the newspapers that somebody has signed an agreement to bring 6.6 million bags of maize from Uganda. I border Uganda and I have relatives in Uganda. You cannot get anybody in Uganda growing maize on more than 100 acres of land. Uganda cannot produce more than two or three million bags of maize in a year. They eat bananas more than maize. Therefore, it is criminals who are engaging in those 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."
}