Entry Instance

HTTP 200 OK
Allow: GET, PUT, PATCH, DELETE, HEAD, OPTIONS
Content-Type: application/json
Vary: Accept

{
    "id": 924818,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/924818/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 104,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mwea, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Josphat Kabinga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13441,
        "legal_name": "Josphat Kabinga Wachira",
        "slug": "josphat-kabinga-wachira-2"
    },
    "content": "I want to congratulate the Government since the Mwea Irrigation Scheme is doing well because of Thiba Dam which we are sure will be completed on time. Once completed, this scheme will increase or double rice production in Mwea. We can do better if we continue to get more and more water. Among other issues, I want to urge the Government to look at simple issues which make our production go down resulting in importation of rice from elsewhere. For example, fertiliser is something to be proactive about. Farmers not only in Mwea, but also elsewhere, should be provided with fertiliser so that they can increase production. Natural resources like water, bigger markets and investing in research can also increase production. Research is one area in which we are doing fairly badly in this country. You will realise that research is wanting for not only rice farmers, but also for farmers in other areas. They rely on the same type of seeds they have been planting for many years. That is why production has been constant. I urge the Government, through this Motion, to look at some of the products to prioritise and say that in the next two or three years their importation will be reduced maybe by 50 per cent. This will be a great achievement. Mwea rice farming is a seven billion economy. Currently in Mwea, we are producing only 30 per cent. This means that we are probably importing rice worth almost Kshs30 billion to this country. This is something we can prevent by improving rice production in Mwea and other schemes. I hope moving forward through this Motion, we will come up with a list of products to prioritise and focus on to ensure that we deliberately reduce their importation. Farmers are suffering in some areas and I hope moving forward, their issues will be taken seriously. Some of these schemes have the poorest road networks and yet they feed the nation. For a farmer to transport his products from point A to point B, he will have to use his own strength to load to a cart and then struggle with that cart to get to the next point where he can probably get a tractor to transport to another point. A lot of resources are wasted and we could input year by year some money to improve the road networks, so that our sugarcane and rice farmers and others out there can feel motivated to feed the nation."
}