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{
    "id": 947823,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/947823/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 199,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Tigania West, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. John Mutunga",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13495,
        "legal_name": "John Kanyuithia Mutunga",
        "slug": "john-kanyuithia-mutunga"
    },
    "content": "more productive way. In order to do that, we need to mobilise resources. Resources will not only be mobilised from this House. They are not the resources voted in this House. There are lots of resources out there, with donors. Resources can even come from private philanthropies who would be guided to support this industry in a better way. So, the board is important in the sense that it will be organising or coordinating the function of mobilising resources to invest in particular industry. Value addition is core to the growth and development of any country. If we have to industrialise, we must think of different ways and versions of value addition. We must define value addition in the correct terms. We must invest in value addition. Without a proper machinery to think through value addition and the many products that we need to add value to, we may not be able to reach there in a short while. So, having a board in place to look at livestock and livestock products will not only identify which livestock species or breeds we need to promote in the different ecological zones of this country but it will also enable us to know which products we need to promote so that we may be able to add value to and, therefore, industrialise this country and create the jobs that the youth need in a big way. Infrastructural development in the livestock industry is very poor. Some of the speakers who have spoken before me have articulated the fact that there has not been commensurate investment in livestock as there has been in crops although the two sub-sectors of agriculture fall within the ambit of the same ministry. We need to invest in modern abattoirs and holding grounds. I want to take a minute to discuss the issue of holding grounds. We used to have a very elaborate mechanism of marketing livestock in this country. Thanks to the corruption that has been in existence and the many other social ills that we have nurtured in this country. We have lost the entire livestock marketing machinery that we had developed for very many years. Livestock used to trek from the northern range lands to the nearest railway stations, from where they would be loaded and transported to the coast for export. We lost our livestock quota in the European market because of disorganisation and land grabbing. We no longer have livestock holding grounds. Holding grounds used to be used as fattening centres as well as disease control centres. Right now, we are struggling to come up with a policy on development of what we call disease-free zones. It is taking forever to come up with disease-free zones. It is time we thought about livestock seriously if we really want to develop as a country. This Bill is important in the sense that it seeks to bring order to this very important sector in terms of reorganising the sector and making it more reliable. There are efforts to insuring livestock but there are no coordinated mechanisms for identifying which animals need to be insured, and how insurance covers are going to be organised. I do not think the ministry, and more specifically the Department of Livestock Production, has the capacity to do that besides many other things that they have to do. The numbers of the livestock we are talking about are big. So, we need a specific think-tank that will develop and promote these ideas in a better way so that we may be able to know how to secure our livestock for purposes of having a consistent and reliable production. Livestock farmers have had to contend with heavy taxation and levies in this industry. Anybody who wants to get rich quickly goes to the agricultural sector, and more so the livestock sector. We need a board that will enable us to regulate and look at the kind of taxes and levies that are being charged in different places in this country as livestock are moved, and as we process livestock products. We need a board that will enable us to regulate the taxes and levies being charged at different points in this country as livestock move and are processed. We need a body that will scrutinise and give advice on the policies that the sub-sector should have. There 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."
}