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{
    "id": 977158,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/977158/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 286,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Nominated, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Cecily Mbarire",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 78,
        "legal_name": "Cecily Mutitu Mbarire",
        "slug": "cecily-mbarire"
    },
    "content": "If nothing is done to this institute, we will surely find ourselves unable to compete well in the world market to sell our coffee. We may completely come out of the market. It is, therefore, important that this House places a lot of importance on the need to put adequate money into the Coffee Research Institute. I hope the Committee, with these new findings, will make sure that in the Budget for Financial Year 2020/2021, we see some handsome budgetary allocation towards the institute to ensure that we upgrade our laboratory equipment to modern standards, have well paid researchers, et cetera . We have been told that they have only 17 researchers out of 37 researchers that are required. Therefore, we should employ more researchers and pay them well to enable them conduct more research in this field so that we know whether the kind of pesticides that farmers are using are of good quality or they can supply the right type of coffee that is required in the world market. So, I feel quite unhappy with these kinds of findings. I hope it is not too late. We know the coffee sector has been suffering a great deal lately. The prices have gone down and the farmers are disenfranchised. However, we are glad that the President came up with the Cherry Fund which contains the money that will be paid to farmers immediately they sell their cherry as they await the final bonus payment. That will motivate farmers to produce better coffee. One of the things that we want reinstated in the coffee subsector is the 2 per cent coffee research levy. It is currently non-existent. We are told that it was done away with in 2016 and now there is no money to help improve on research. We will be supporting that proposal from the Committee to have the Coffee Research Levy Fund back. I hope they will make sure that they introduce it in the new Budget so that it is effective in July 2020. We can insist on more funding towards research and especially the creation of new varieties. There is talk that we need to come up with special coffee. We seem to be focusing just on the same coffee that we have been having all our lives. I hope that this Report is not going to be like the old reports we have had over the years. We come here with good reports, but there is no follow-up and implementation of the great proposals that come from committees. We are looking forward to seeing real moves towards ensuring that the proposals from the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock towards the Coffee Research Institute come to fruition. I also want to add my voice to that of Hon. Ruth Mwaniki who, with her vast experience in the coffee sector, has put in good proposals. We need a holistic approach to the coffee sector. We know that there was a task force that was formed and its report was commissioned and received by the President at State House, Nairobi. However, we have not seen much happening since that report came out. We hope that the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock is going to focus on the entire report and ensure that the issues that were raised in that task force report are implemented by the Executive. We know that there are several cartels in the coffee subsector just like in the tea subsector and they would not want that task force report to be implemented. It is no wonder that we have been at it for almost the last four years since the task force report was handed out and yet we have not seen any major changes. So, I hope that the AFA, which we will continue challenging, will not be used to cripple the important institutions that used to empower farmers through coffee and tea. As you have heard Hon. Wanyonyi say, it looks like since the creation of AFA, some key subsectors in agriculture have been suffering because AFA is not giving them the support and the seriousness they deserve in terms of funding and policy. I hope we will see AFA improve and 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."
}