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{
"id": 884037,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/884037/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen. Omogeni",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": {
"id": 13219,
"legal_name": "Erick Okong'o Mogeni",
"slug": "erick-okongo-mogeni"
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"content": "Madam Temporary Speaker, tea has got a very long history from the date it was introduced in the country, way back in 1900. The first time the Government’s attention was placed on tea, way back in 1964, the acreage on tea farming was 4,700. It has grown to the current about 100,000 hectares. So, you can see that there has been a lot of interest from Kenyans to engage in tea farming, which in itself is a good thing. There is something that should capture our attention. We should not pay too much attention to only the large-scale farmers, but also give some due attention to the small- scale tea farmers. You will be surprised that from the total tea production in this country, 60 percent of that tea comes from the small-scale tea farmers. Together, they are the customers of over 60 tea factories in this country, which are under the management of Kenya Tea Development Authority (KTDA). Madam Temporary Speaker, I am proud to say that most of us could not have gone to school or managed to have our fees paid if our parents were not tea farmers. So, we are people who have benefitted directly from the good returns of tea farming. Therefore, any tea initiative by this House to cushion the farmer and create incentives for them to continue engaging in tea farming, is something that I wholeheartedly support. I want to assure Sen. Cheruiyot that I am fully behind this Bill. I hope that this House will in the fullness of time enact it sooner than later. Madam Temporary Speaker, a very good development has taken place in Kericho County, which under this Bill, is meant to be the headquarters of the agency that we are creating under this Bill. As you may be aware, the large-scale multinational tea farming takes place principally in Kericho County. Historically, the multinationals have been paying some nominal fee in terms of lease fee to the Government. But I am happy that some three weeks ago, I read in the newspapers - I believe that was factual news - reporting, that going forward, the multinationals will pay lease fees to the county government that reflects the value of the land that they occupy. That means the indigenous people of those counties will now have some benefit accruing from their ancestral land. Madam Temporary Speaker, when the colonizers came to this country and decided to settle, they picked the most productive parts of this country, and some of them are in Kericho. So, I also support the initiative by the good Governor of Kericho County to ensure that the inhabitants of those counties benefit from the profits that the multinationals, who are also doing a good thing to this economy by engaging large-scale farming. They are able to give back to community the profits that accrue from the large- scale tea farming. That is something that we fully need to support. Madam Temporary Speaker, going to the board that we have proposed under Clause 6, I want to persuade Sen. Cheruiyot to consider creating room for small-scale farmers to also get representation in this board. It says that there will be one person nominated by the association representing the largest number of tea growers in this country. As I have just said in my contribution, the small-scale tea farmers contribute about 60 percent of the tea production that goes to our tea factories. In total, there are more than 500,000 small-scale tea farmers. It is important that we add their voice in this board, so that they can also make some useful contribution in terms of the challenges that they face - there are many - in tea production. 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."
}