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{
    "id": 877944,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/877944/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 385,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Ochillo-Ayacko",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 347,
        "legal_name": "Ochilo George Mbogo Ayacko",
        "slug": "ochilo-ayacko"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, this Report talks about farmers in this country. These are people who sweat and do not look for employment in the national Government or county governments. They use their sweat to employ themselves and feed those of us who are in need of food. If you look at the statistics, you will find that 80 per cent of Kenyans in rural areas make a living out of activities that are farming related. Therefore, they are the most economically active people in Kenya. Nowadays, most young people do not want to engage in farming activities; they want to engage in politics and other opportunities where they can get money and get rich quickly. Therefore, farming is being abandoned. If Parliament does not create an environment to protect and defend these patriots and champions, we will have a situation where every Kenyan will be looking for formal employment in offices which will be impossible. We will become a nation that will import food and raw materials. We will depend on imports which is a fact that is not sustainable the world over. I take this opportunity to thank the galaxy of Senators who sat in this Committee for the bravery and good work that they did to bring a Report that is now the subject matter of debate. I thank Sen. (Prof.) Kamar, Sen. Wetangula and all the Members of the Committee. I also want to thank my good friend, who depends on agriculture, the Senator for Nandi County, for his able contribution in the process of bringing up the Report. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, those of us who looked at the anger that the farmers had when they were talking about the frustrations they have had and pointing fingers at the Senate Majority Leader and Members of the Committee and asking for solutions, understands their frustrations. In Migori County where I come from, we are largely a farming county. We have sugarcane, but right now sugarcane farmers are up in arms. They are pleading to be paid by the Government and threatening demonstrations. They cannot believe that the factories that they supplied sugarcane to are capable of paying them. We have maize farming in Migori County which is so tragic that the maize farmers do not have a Government purchase scheme for the maize that they produce. If you go to NCPB silos in Kuria, Awendo and Migori, you will meet birds and other things flying all over the place. The place is dead. Yet farmers in those areas have tonnes of grain, but have nobody to purchase from them."
}