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{
"id": 1546342,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546342/?format=api",
"text_counter": 111,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Alego Usonga, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Samuel Atandi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Hon. Deputy Speaker, I am, indeed, spoilt for choice, but let me have Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi to second."
},
{
"id": 1546343,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546343/?format=api",
"text_counter": 112,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kwanza, FORD-K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you very much, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me an opportunity to second this Motion, whose moving has been well executed by my brother, Hon. Samuel Atandi. First and foremost, we should use all means possible to ensure that fertilisers are manufactured locally. This country has enough professionals who can come up with fertilisers that are suitable for this country. Sometimes we import fertilisers whose quality is not appropriate to our farming. Sometimes back, a former Cabinet Secretary imported fake fertilisers. I do not know whether he was aware that the fertiliser was fake. That import ended up costing him his job. It is, therefore, important that the Government encourages investors to set up manufacturing plants for local manufacturing of fertilisers. As we do so, we will create jobs for our youths, professionals in agriculture and everybody else. We will also have fertilisers that are appropriate for our soil quality and quantity as mentioned by the Mover of the Motion. We will ensure that the fertilisers that will be going to western Kenya or the Rift Valley regions is appropriate for the soils in that area. Likewise, the Coast region and other parts of the country will receive fertilisers that are suitable for the soils in those areas. We spend so much money on importation of fertilisers. The prices are fixed thus there is no flexibility. As mentioned by the Mover, that is very important. Sometimes we are forced to spend a lot of our foreign exchange on whoever is importing. We need to regulate this. I have just mentioned that we need to improve the quality. If we produce fertilisers, the quality will be appropriate to the soil requirement of each region. I urge the Government to encourage companies, even if they are from overseas, to invest in the country and have fertilisers manufactured locally. The population of this country is growing daily. We should have enough food. This country is outstanding in the region. It has a lot of professionals. Given that scenario, we should be able to produce our own fertilisers instead of importing. Surrounding countries like Uganda, Tanzania, South Sudan and others in the East African bloc should be importing fertilisers from Kenya. We have the capacity to produce enough fertilisers for the region. That again answers The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1546344,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546344/?format=api",
"text_counter": 113,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Kwanza, FORD-K",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Ferdinand Wanyonyi",
"speaker": null,
"content": "the question of foreign exchange, which is important in improving the standards of living and our economy generally. The East African countries have been relying on Kenya for many things. The Mover of the Motion is right in saying that Kenya should be the central hub of quality fertilisers for EAC countries. We should send people to EAC countries to assess their soil textures so that we can manufacture appropriate fertilisers for them instead of us importing fertilisers from other countries. This Motion will be committed to the Departmental Committee on Agriculture and Livestock for discussion, where I am a Member. The relevant ministries should assist us in improving fertiliser production. We should manufacture fertilisers for this country. With those remarks, I second the Motion."
},
{
"id": 1546345,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546345/?format=api",
"text_counter": 114,
"type": "scene",
"speaker_name": "",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "(Question proposed)"
},
{
"id": 1546346,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546346/?format=api",
"text_counter": 115,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Deputy Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Hon. Members, if you want to debate this Motion, please, press the intervention button. Hon. Gideon Ochanda, proceed."
},
{
"id": 1546347,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546347/?format=api",
"text_counter": 116,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Bondo, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Ochanda",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker. I rise to support the Motion by my good neighbour, Hon. Atandi. We are an agriculture-led economy yet we are doing very little to produce our own fertilisers. We import virtually everything that we ought not to import in the agriculture sector. We import machinery and agricultural inputs like fuel and fertilisers. There is no way we can move forward as a country if we ignore what happens in the agriculture sector. As a Government, we ought to have realised this much earlier. We have been identifying strategic areas of investment. The way we have been investing in Kenya Airways (KQ) is the same way we ought to have invested in agriculture so that we do things that are easy to do, like manufacturing fertiliser. If Uganda, Tanzania and other countries that basically rely on Kenya can produce their own fertilisers, what is wrong with us? The Government ought to have realised this much earlier. If there are no private investors willing to take up this opportunity, the Government ought to have got into this area as a strategic investment to ensure availability of cheaper inputs for the sector of the economy that drives this country. A lot of noise across the country has a correlation with food availability. The more people go without food, the more they get angry over small issues. This is something we ought to have foreseen as a country. It is a contributing factor to the many things happening around. Nobody is patient enough to wait because people are hungry. The prices of food commodities are high. People are unable to afford them. Because of the subsidies on agricultural inputs over the last two years, we have done very well in terms of production. However, subsidies are not sustainable. Currently, there is a problem with fertiliser uptake. Farmers are queuing at NCPB depots for subsidised fertilisers. We are not saying that fertilisers are not available. There are shops that have a lot of fertilisers. People are queuing and waiting for Government fertilisers because of the subsidy. Subsidy is not sustainable. We must do away with it. We should produce our own fertilisers. We must make sure that prices of farm inputs are low. This will lead to more food production and bring down food prices. That way, we will reduce quite a bit of the noise around us. We have more or less the same ecological conditions with our neighbours. When it rains in Kenya, it rains in Tanzania, Uganda and parts of Rwanda. That is the time farmers require inputs like fertilisers. That is the time when Uganda and Tanzania hold onto their fertilisers for farmers to get it while you who is dependent on imports has no fertilisers. As I support this Motion, the issue should not be taken for granted. The Government must look at it in an aggressive manner even if there are no private investors who want to get into fertiliser production. You cannot have food reserve depots when you do not make sure that there is food. The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
},
{
"id": 1546348,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546348/?format=api",
"text_counter": 117,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Bondo, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Gideon Ochanda",
"speaker": null,
"content": "That is where we go wrong. The Government needs to wake up. It is late. The later we get, the more noises we will experience because of food prices. With those remarks, I support."
},
{
"id": 1546349,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546349/?format=api",
"text_counter": 118,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Deputy Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Member for Karachuonyo, Hon. Okuome."
},
{
"id": 1546350,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546350/?format=api",
"text_counter": 119,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Karachuonyo, ODM",
"speaker_title": "Hon. Adipo Okuome",
"speaker": null,
"content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for giving me a chance to contribute to this important Motion."
},
{
"id": 1546351,
"url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1546351/?format=api",
"text_counter": 120,
"type": "speech",
"speaker_name": "Hon. Deputy Speaker",
"speaker_title": "",
"speaker": null,
"content": "Can the Sergeant-at-Arms come over? I do not have any support system here."
}
]
}