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{
"id": 979948,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/979948/?format=api",
"text_counter": 194,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Funyula, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. (Dr.) Wilberforce Oundo",
"speaker": {
"id": 13331,
"legal_name": "Wilberforce Ojiambo Oundo",
"slug": "wilberforce-ojiambo-oundo-2"
},
"content": "of the agricultural sector instead of creating a giant that did not have the teeth, the strength and the financial and human capacity to manage. We are aware that they created a Tea Directorate, just like they have created other directorates, but it would seem the directorate does not have the capacity and energy or wherewithal to manage the tea sector. On that score, therefore, it is probably important that we reconsider the particular aspects or issues that informed the collapsing of the various agencies to form one in 2013, because from experience, we have done badly. That is the truth of the matter. As things stand now, wherever you interact with tea-growing areas, they have very many complaints from poor returns, lack of support and general sense of neglect. The Tea Directorate at AFA has not done any service to this country. However, we must appreciate that starting with this particular Bill, we set precedence. We open a Pandora’s Box. The various crops under the First Schedule of the Crops Act are going to demand that we have separate Acts of Parliament or a separate legal framework to manage their affairs. As we legislate as Members of Parliament, whether in the National Assembly or in the Senate, we must put that in our minds. Coffee will require a separate Act of Parliament. Cotton, which is now a key anchor to the textile industry for the Big Four Agenda, will also require its own separate Act of Parliament. The question we must ask ourselves is whether the country is ready to go back to pre-2013, where each particular crop had its own development agency, its own board and the rest of the things. That is a question we must ask ourselves. Otherwise, we are entering into unchartered territory where we might have to relook at the agricultural policy as a whole. I totally agree that KTDA has generally killed the tea sector in this country. One marketing agency cannot have eight or nine subsidiaries that do not seem to be clear in their mandates of helping the common mwananchi who is a tea farmer, who depends on the returns from tea to sustain himself or herself. It is, therefore, important that as we make this legislation, we might have to go back and look at Sections 3 and 4 of the AFA Act that lump all the functions of regulating production, processing and marketing in one organ. Looking at the particular Act, I must say it was a positive move, but the Bill as passed in the Senate seems to be fairly shallow. The most disappointing aspect of the Bill is that the farmer, whom we seek to protect, has nothing in this Bill in terms of positive measures to protect his interests. I hope and believe the Committee on Agriculture and Livestock will have a chance to consider this Bill and subject it to public participation, so that we can enrich it considerably. At the end, it is the farmer that we are most interested in. Tea factories have their own agencies, but the farmer has been left at the mercy of the brokers and KTDA. They have nowhere to turn to. We hope the Tea Board that is proposed will be given enough teeth and mandate and adequately resourced in terms of finance, human capacity and political goodwill, to enable it protect the interests of the farmers. On our own, we are keenly watching the passage of this Bill. Once it is up and running, we, the cotton farmers, will also come and see what we can do, because the Fibre Directorate at AFA has done nothing for us as people who grow cotton, yet we are aware that the Government of Kenya has invested heavily in Rivatex. It is a shame that out of all the materials - and Rivatex currently operates at only 30 per cent of its capacity - only 10 per cent of the raw material is generated within the country. The 90 per cent has to be imported yet we have 24 counties in this country that have the capacity to produce enough cotton to run Rivatex and all other private textile industries. We, therefore, call upon AFA to take their mandate seriously. If they think the organisation is too big, it is important that the leadership of that organisation looks at pragmatic ways of ensuring that they deliver on their mandate. 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."
}