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{
    "id": 90849,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/90849/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 142,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mr. Nyagah",
    "speaker_title": "The Minister for Co-operative Development and Marketing",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 269,
        "legal_name": "Joseph Nthiga Nyagah",
        "slug": "joseph-nyagah"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to support this very critical Ministry. I also want to congratulate the Minister whom I have known for many years. I know her capacities and capabilities. I also know that the team she works with is up to the task and they will continue to do a good job. I know this for a fact because the Ministry of Co-operative Development and Marketing works very closely with them. In fact, we are an extension of the Ministry of Agriculture. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, may I suggest that the Treasury looks at the Maputo Declaration which committed the African Governments to give 10 per cent of their budgets to the agricultural sector. We have just been told by the Chairman of the Departmental Committee on Agriculture, Livestock and Co-operatives that it is below 4 per cent, which does not make sense if this economy is to grow. Therefore, we need more funding if the Ministry is going to fulfill its expected job of feeding this nation. We do not want to see Kenyans going out to import food. We do not also want to see Kenyans begging for food. This is because it reduces our international prestige every time we are seen begging and getting aid or even buying food from outside Kenya when we have the land, people and Ministry. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the Ministry has over 130 pieces of legislation and policies that guide it. They need assistance and proper funding so that they can consolidate the agricultural laws into one. The resources they have are not enough for that job. The Agricultural Act is an old one. Yes, along the way, it has accommodated a lot of things, but with the new Constitution, we need a new consolidated agricultural Act which we can easily refer to instead of looking at many pieces of legislation. The Cereals Bill and the Fertilizer and Soil Conditioners Bill are important if this country is going to develop. I know that the able Minister and her team are working on the Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) (Amendment) Bill and the Pyrethrum (Amendment) Bill, which are very important if the sector is going to take off. To do all those things, they need more resources than they have been given. We are asking the Treasury to find resources for this Ministry so that they can do all the things they want to do for us. Sugar, bixa, coffee, tea, cassava and millet are things that the Ministry should continue working on, whether from a research or extension point of view. The country needs more production of those items. The sugar sector needs to be revitalized. The mills in western Kenya and Nyanza need to be modernized. Their capacity has remained at the same level for years. They were put up a long time ago and they have been like that for 20 to 40 years. The equipment is falling apart. It is time they were assisted even as they embark on privatization and, preferably, before then. It makes sense for the Government to pump resources into those mills so that they can produce enough sugar for this country and also for export. Privatization is in progress and my Ministry is working very closely with them on that particular aspect. I support the idea of the police being involved in what was referred to as cane- poaching. Crop-poaching has also been perfected in Kisii, Mount Kenya region, Ukambani and other areas which grow coffee and tea. There is stealing and hawking of those products. We need police assistance so that people do not hawk coffee and tea in the market streets. They steal coffee and tea at night from the shambas. That makes farmers get very discouraged because they spend time to produce those products and somebody from somewhere finds a way of disposing of those products. The Coffee Board of Kenya should be strengthened so that it can follow the thieves who are stealing coffee and tea from our people. The Ministry of Livestock Development will be the next Vote to be discussed. I support it fully because we are brothers and sisters. The budget of that Ministry, just like that of the Ministry of Agriculture, needs to be strengthened very strongly. I support."
}