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{
    "id": 99430,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/99430/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 255,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Mrs. Shabesh",
    "speaker_title": "",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 377,
        "legal_name": "Rachel Wambui Shebesh",
        "slug": "rachel-shebesh"
    },
    "content": "Thank you very much, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir. I want to begin by congratulating my colleague and supporting this Bill that he has brought here. I want to congratulate him because I believe that he is doing work that should have been done by the Government and the Ministry of Livestock many years ago. But mostly, I want to congratulate him because he has brought an issue that, definitely, touches on so many sectors and not just livestock. There are also issues of youth employment and opportunity creating in this country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, what I would like to concentrate on, so that I can give my colleagues a chance to speak, is the fact that Kenya is a sleeping giant that is not even aware that it is asleep. There is no way we can ever hope to develop this country if such basic things like having animal technicians have to be brought by a Back bencher to the Parliament, yet we have a Government that has run for years, knowing very well the number of livestock in this country and what it can portend such livestock is taken care of. I am hesitant to say that I believe that if livestock was coming from the “right” part of this country, we would have seen a lot more interest on this issue, but because most of the livestock keepers, who keep livestock in big numbers come from the marginalized Arid and Semi-Arid Lands (ASALs) communities, I truly believe that, that is why a common sense issue like the need for animal technicians so that these animals are well taken care of and produce the best, has not been done. Livestock is not only in ASALs. I was born in one area of this country and married in another. I was born and bred in Nairobi, but my parents came from Kiambu and I am married in Khwisero, in Western Province. It is a shame to see how many litres of milk my mother in Kiambu gets from her cow and what my mother-in-law in Khwisero gets from her cow. It is a shame! The only reason that my mother can get 12 litres and my mother-in-law is getting a cup is simply because of the work that has been put in by the Government to ensure that the cows in Kiambu are fed and taken care of well. They have veterinary services while those of Khwisero are just left to run in the wild. We must change the way we think about agriculture. We cannot just be stuck in coffee, rice, tea and in areas where the Government has already put in a lot. What about areas where there is another form of agriculture, because livestock is another form of agriculture? Where else have we ever heard the kind of hullabaloo that we hear around the agriculture Ministry? The kind of fights we hear for people to become Ministers for Agriculture. Why is there no fight to become the Minister for Livestock Development? It has been belittled to the point that if you are given that Ministry, it is because you had to be given a ministerial position, anyway. Either we are not alive to the facts or either we are still living in this country in the status quo--- But because of the issues of climate change and environment, I can tell you that we will need the livestock because all the maize or food that we are waiting to grow will not feed this country. We will need to feed Kenyans from the animals that can be taken care of. For example, we have goats which produce milk. You will never see Kenyans drinking goat milk because nobody has ever bothered to educate them. Nobody has educated them that camel and goat milk is very nutritious. All we know is that we can drink milk from a cow and, if that cow does not come from the highland areas, it is not worth drinking its milk. I want to congratulate my colleague and simply say that time has come for us to change our mindsets on how we think about agriculture in this country. We must ensure that ASALs become the next centre of growth for agricultural production in this country. With livestock and with this kind of support from the Government, you can be sure that, in the next few years, we will not only lead the East Africa Community, but Africa in terms of livestock development. Thank you."
}