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{
    "id": 90854,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/90854/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 147,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Dr. Nuh",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 114,
        "legal_name": "Nuh Nassir Abdi",
        "slug": "nuh-abdi"
    },
    "content": "Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, as I rise to support this Vote, I wish the Minister well in a Ministry that has so much controversy. We ask for food sufficiency and more production and when prices fall, maybe due to increased production, we still complain that the prices are low. So, a delicate balance is required. It is our right to cry to the Ministry and we expect more to be done every other time. I want to highlight two issues. Just like my colleagues have said, there are a myriad of Government Departments and Ministries dealing with food security. You have the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) on this side, the Ministry of Water and Irrigation on another and the Ministry of Agriculture on the other side. You would not expect a farmer in Loitokitok, Bura and Hola to know which Ministry to run to when he needs or requires seeds and which Ministry to run to when they require water. It is so complex. If these Government Ministries and agencies could be collapsed into one, so that, at least, our farmers would not have the burden of trying to envisage when and which Ministry to run to, we would really appreciate. The other issue is about pricing. I do not know why pricing becomes a very big problem when it comes to more production within the country, but it does not become an issue when you have so much importation from outside. The prices do not seem to fall when the Government imports millions of tonnes of maize from outside, but when we have a bumper harvest in Mwingi, Loitokitok and Bura, the prices have to ultimately come down, with all this cry that there is aflatoxin and other side shows. The Ministry only seems to be on its toes when Members of Parliament are crying on the Floor of this House. There was all the talk about aflatoxin and we were promised that maize would be bought from the farmers, but I do not think anything has happened. I have not seen any purchase of aflatoxin infected maize or even good maize from Bura. With those few remarks, I beg to support."
}