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{
"id": 908486,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/908486/?format=api",
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"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Sen Farhiya",
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"speaker": {
"id": 13179,
"legal_name": "Farhiya Ali Haji",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, for giving me an opportunity to contribute to this conversation. I am not a maize grower or a large consumer of maize. However, if you understand economics, then you know that any country that is only consuming and not producing can never grow. If many Kenyans depend on maize, which is our staple food, we should be able to provide enough food. I thank Sen. (Prof).Kamar for being diligent about the welfare of her people by raising the maize issue all the time. We had a food surplus in 2017 and did not have rain shortage in 2018. What happened? Where did the surplus go? Why did the farmers not grow maize in 2018? Those are the questions that we need to ask ourselves. The farmers must have made a decision that they will not grow maize in 2018. I do not think the rainfall was that little. At least there could have been maize grown in this country. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, when there was a surplus, we heard that the big suppliers should not supply to the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB). There were so many conditions that were put for the farmers and small-scale farmers suffered as a result. We killed the sugar industry in this country through careless importation and the sugar prices dropped. Now, people are not growing sugarcane anymore. If it is grown, it is in small-scale. The sugar value chain is dying. Are we taking maize to its death bed again? When we make a mistake, we must learn from it. We cannot have a dependency syndrome in this country, where we depend on imported clothes. To some extent, whether legally or illegally, sugar is imported. The reason our products are more expensive than in our neighboring countries is because of the level of corruption that exists in this country. We need people who care enough about this country and its citizens, such that at policy level, they will feel a decision is wrong. I do not know what can be done to ensure that when we have a bumper harvest we save the grains, so that next time when there is shortage, we use them instead of importing. If we do not do this, we can never prosper in terms of manufacturing. Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, electricity is one of the key factors of production. However, we have discovered a lot of different means, for example, solar which was not part of the normal grid. We have also discovered geothermal and other green energy. However, the cost of electricity has never reduced. How can we be a manufacturing country when electricity, which is one of the major requirements for manufacturing, has never come down? Mr. Temporary Speaker, Sir, if our manufacturing sector was at a different level, there could have been a way to save grains when we have a bumper harvest, so that when we have a shortage, we use them. 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."
}