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{
    "id": 979983,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/979983/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 229,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kitui West, WDM-K",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. (Ms.) Edith Nyenze",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 13513,
        "legal_name": "Edith Nyenze",
        "slug": "edith-nyenze"
    },
    "content": " Thank you Hon. Deputy Speaker. Let me also contribute to this Bill from the Senate. I congratulate Sen. Aaron Cheruiyot for coming up with this Bill, which will help us benchmark with other farm products. If we come up with a good Act, then it will help us sort out the many problems that bedevil the agriculture sector, especially our farm produce. Hon. Deputy Speaker, I come from a region where we do not grow tea, but, with the current climate change, if it continues the same way, with time, we will also be growing tea. That is if what we have is something to go by. We are good consumers of tea. Kenya is the biggest tea exporter in the world due to its premium black variety. Actually, in 2016 alone, we produced and supplied 27 percent of the total global tea sales. This was 15 percent and 8 percent more than the closest rivals who were India and China, respectively. Though China produced ten time as much tea as Kenya’s total output and India nearly produces five times more volume than Kenya, we export more. It is important to note that we do not have as many ranch plantations as there are in those large producers of the commodity. Around 90 percent of the tea produced in the country is produced in small scale farms. Yet, in the recent past, we have seen our farmers complaining because of lack of support from the Government in terms of subsidised fertiliser and marketing. Our farmers are facing numerous challenges, not only concerning the tea product, but also other issues, especially with the brokers. Our farmers take a very long time to produce whatever product they farm such as tea, coffee, maize and flowers. But within a week, brokers make a kill from what the farmers have sweated for, for a very long time. That is the reason why the Government should intervene and help farmers market their produce. If we are exporting so much compared to other countries, this benefit should also be felt by the farmers instead of letting them suffer so much. The farmers are also highly taxed and yet, the cost of farming, as I have said, is very high. I expect the Government to intervene."
}