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{
    "id": 945781,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/945781/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 106,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Baringo CWR, KANU",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Gladwell Cheruiyot",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13231,
        "legal_name": "Gladwell Jesire Cheruiyot",
        "slug": "gladwell-jesire-cheruiyot"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I want to support the Bill even before contributing. It is high time, as a country and as a Government, we looked into the issue of livestock and livestock products. It is sorrowful to note that farmers in this country face a lot of challenges when it comes to livestock products like hides and skins, milk and even bones. It is high time we looked at how to assist our farmers. I want to talk from the point of view where things have changed. Farmers in the Rift Valley specifically are moving from farming maize and wheat to keeping livestock. Fortunately, in some parts of Baringo like Mogotio and Ravine, people are planting grass, so that they can feed their livestock. Unfortunately, nobody is giving a lot of attention to the output, namely, the livestock products. Our farmers sell their milk for as low as Kshs20 per litre. When you look at the input that is expended on livestock so that the product can come out, it is very expensive. They cannot manage. It is becoming a business that is not worth it. The business of livestock products is so challenging to our livestock farmers. It is high time the Government put some measures in place, so that farmers can feel that whatever they are doing is helping them. Our farmers have abandoned maize farming because of the price of maize as well as marketing, which do not favour them. The input and the output are high, but in terms of marketing and price, they do not get anything at the end of the year. If they have abandoned maize farming, it is important for us to make agribusiness productive to enable them to take their children to school. A week ago, I visited a farmer in Rongai, Kajiado and on reaching there, the farmer, Mr. Kurgat, was very unhappy with what is happening with the price of milk. It is only after they add value to the product, like making yoghurt or selling mursik, that they can realise a bit of profit. So, it is the duty of the Government to assist these farmers and make the input affordable, so that they can get manageable outputs. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposes only. Acertified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}