{"count":1608389,"next":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144540","previous":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/?format=json&page=144538","results":[{"id":1463582,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463582/?format=json","text_counter":495,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":"Next Order."},{"id":1463583,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463583/?format=json","text_counter":496,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"MOTION"},{"id":1463584,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463584/?format=json","text_counter":497,"type":"heading","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"POLICY AND FUNDING FOR SUGARCANE FARMING IN THE COUNTRY"},{"id":1463585,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463585/?format=json","text_counter":498,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"THAT, aware that, commercial sugarcane production in Kenya was introduced in the early years of independence with an aim of eliminating dependence on sugar importation and contributing to economic transformation in the sugar belt and the country at large through agriculture; acknowledging that, at its pinnacle, the sugar industry significantly contributed to the country’s National Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and became one of the largest employers which supported livelihoods of many Kenyans both directly and indirectly; concerned that, over the last 25 years, sugarcane farming particularly in Western Kenya has been declining significantly, thereby dipping sugar production from over 600,000 metric tonnes per year in the 1990s to less than 300,000 metric tonnes in recent years; noting that, the decline in sugarcane farming has forced local millers to operate far below their milling capacities and pushed the country to over-rely on net importation of sugar, which negatively impacts on the balance of trade; noting that, the decline in sugar production is attributable to factors such as mismanagement, interference and unfair competition from cheap imported sugar; further concerned that, state-owned sugar millers like Mumias Sugar Company and Nzoia Sugar Company ceased milling while owing farmers hundreds of millions of shillings; appreciating that, the Government has been putting in place strategies, policies and regulations to define roles of millers and major players and stakeholders in the sugar industry in a bid to revamp the sector; concerned that, the acute shortage of sugarcane resulting from mass abandonment of sugarcane farming continues to roll back initiatives for reviving sugar milling; recognising that, further investment in revamping sugar companies before reviving sugarcane farming would occasion loss of the invested public funds instead of yielding success; now therefore, this House resolves that, the National Government, through the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, reviews the sugar development policies to provide that every investor- miller sets aside definite funds for development of sugarcane farming, incentivizing farmers to embrace sugarcane growing and to enhance cane production in each of the respective zones."},{"id":1463586,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463586/?format=json","text_counter":499,"type":"other","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"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":1463587,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463587/?format=json","text_counter":500,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Moved by Hon. Peter Nabulindo on 7.8.2024 – Morning Sitting)"},{"id":1463588,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463588/?format=json","text_counter":501,"type":"scene","speaker_name":"","speaker_title":"","speaker":null,"content":"(Resumption of debate interrupted on 7.8.2024 – Morning Sitting)"},{"id":1463589,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463589/?format=json","text_counter":502,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Hon. Peter Kaluma","speaker_title":"The Temporary Speaker","speaker":{"id":1565,"legal_name":"George Peter Opondo Kaluma","slug":"george-peter-opondo-kaluma"},"content":" The Mover was Hon. Nabulindo. You had a number of minutes to go and, therefore, you will continue moving. Give Hon. Oscar Nabulindo the microphone."},{"id":1463590,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463590/?format=json","text_counter":503,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Matungu ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Peter Nabulindo","speaker":null,"content":" Thank you. As you have rightly put, on Wednesday last week, I was moving this Motion but time caught up with us and you informed me that I will have 25 minutes to continue moving the Motion. I will, however, not utilise the entire 25 minutes because my colleagues are here and have expressed interest in the Motion. Therefore, I will give them a little more time. The purpose of this Motion is to make sure that the farmer is well taken care of, so that he or she can produce sugarcane the way it is supposed to be. There have been efforts to revive the sugarcane industry over a long period of time. Many stakeholders have been involved; including the Government, farmers, leaders, politicians, businessmen and everybody else who is interested in the sugarcane industry. The problem is that we have always missed the point. We have always targeted the millers and forgotten the farmer. Without the farmer being empowered, the sugarcane industry will always struggle to stand on its feet. That is because the only engine that can drive the revival of the sugarcane industry is provision of adequate and quality raw materials. That can only be provided by the farmers. The little land that was set aside as the nucleus estate cannot sustain the millers for even a week. The big percentage of raw materials that are taken to the milling factories come from the farmer. The farmer has, however, always been neglected. Initially, when the sugarcane industry was starting in Kenya in the 1970s, there was a clear way in which farmers were empowered to produce sugarcane. First, there was elaborate research done on the land, the seed cane and on the acreage that the farmer had, and that could be available for farming. Before the factories could be taken care of, the farmer was the first. I very well remember and it is in history that... I will give an example from the Mumias zone where I come from. At that time, after the registration of farmers and establishing the acreage that the farmer is able to utilise, the then Booker Company provided the farmer with inputs like tractors so that the land could be ploughed. After ploughing the land, it could then be harrowed and the farmer provided with quality seed cane. After the provision of those inputs, the farmer would then be provided with fertiliser to do the planting of the seed cane. That enabled the farmer to start the process of sugarcane production. And that process did not stop there. After six to eight months, the farmer was provided with fertiliser for top-dressing. There was extension services provided by the company or the miller at that time, to educate the farmer on how to take care of his or her crop. Unfortunately, right now, such services are not there. The farmers have been left alone and are not able to know what to do. We now have a new generation of farmers. They are not the old ones that we used to know. The new generation of farmers are not given any information on how to cultivate the sugarcane. That lack of financial support to the farmer is the major reason why the sugarcane industry is not picking at all. This Motion, therefore, is intended to make sure that the Government of Kenya and the investors in the sugarcane milling factories put aside a special fund that will enable the farmer to get the necessary inputs to produce sugarcane that they dearly want. 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":1463591,"url":"http://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1463591/?format=json","text_counter":504,"type":"speech","speaker_name":"Matungu ODM","speaker_title":"Hon. Peter Nabulindo","speaker":null,"content":"Last week after I had started moving this Motin, I received a lot of feedback from the sugarcane farmers. About 80 per cent were positive, but the 20 per cent were questioning why leaders from Western Province are always talking about sugarcane farming. Why can we not do something else? That is what they asked me. My response was that we cannot give up! We cannot do anything else. Sugarcane farming is what we know. Sugarcane farming is what the people of western region, Mumias, Bungoma, Kisumu, Busia and other areas know. That is what we know. There is a saying in our community that if a child finds a mushroom in the field, he or she will always go back to that spot in the hope that one day, he or she will pick another one."}]}