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{
    "id": 874398,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/874398/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 361,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. (Dr.) Milgo",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13174,
        "legal_name": "Milgo Alice Chepkorir",
        "slug": "milgo-alice-chepkorir"
    },
    "content": "never be able to achieve it because very many people will suffer from cancer in the near future. We have very many cases of cancer in this country. It is unfortunate that it took the ad hoc Committee a lot of time to unearth this mess. To me, the NCPB is no longer a regulatory body. It used to regulate, control and market all cereals, including maize, but it failed miserably. We are told that they even paid people who are not farmers. This institution is being used by people who want to enrich themselves. It is not being controlled and nobody knows how much they are paid. In this case, it suffers as a result of under-funding as well as mismanagement and corruption. It has many court cases to deal with and it has been reduced to a shell; that is why it cannot store farmers’ maize. It has failed in its core functions. Madam Temporary Speaker, I support the amendments as they are. It is time we recommended a reorganization of the NCPB to be in line with the 2010 Constitution. If we do not do so, this country will continue relying on relief food. Madam Temporary Speaker, whereas agriculture has been fully devolved as per the Maputo Declaration of 2003 by the African Union (AU) countries, to which Kenya is a signatory, all countries accept that 10 per cent of the GDP should go to agriculture. However, it is unfortunate that in our country, we only allocate 4 per cent of out GDP to agriculture. That is the reason when the farmers deliver their produce to the NCPB, they are not paid immediately. Agriculture is supposed to be a function of the county and, therefore, we need to devolve more resources to it. It is absurd to note that county governments do not understand what is happening with agriculture at the grassroots level. In any case, the control of food is still within the NCPB. Therefore, without ensuring that this function is fully devolved, food security will continue to be a nightmare in this country. Madam Temporary Speaker, it is unfortunate that when the national Government promised to give farmers subsidized fertilizers, nobody took any interest to identify which regions required what type of fertilizers. There are areas in this country with very acidic soils. Therefore, if you put acidic fertilizers in these lands, there will be no produce. Farmers in such areas will suffer psychological torture because they will not produce enough food for themselves and for the country. Production costs are so high because these fertilizers are very expensive and cannot be found easily. Some time back, it was reported that these fertilizers used to land on some unscrupulous traders, who would sell it exorbitantly to farmers. Sometimes, they will repackage it so that they can reap maximum profit. As the Senate, we are supposed to take care of counties and speak to the issues affecting them. We do not want to continue relying on relief food to feed our people. Madam Temporary Speaker, this particular case should be followed up to ensure that there is implementation. The reason we were really advocating for an Implementation Committee the other time is because of many other ad-hoc committees that have been formed and to date, we do not know the fate of whatever was discussed. I remember one such case which concerned tea farming. My area is a tea growing zone and the challenges affecting tea are yet to be solved. The other time I said that tea prices are dwindling each year. In any case, our tea is used elsewhere as a raw material. It The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}