Increased importation of basic food stuff from neighbouring countries is harmful to local farmers, Nyeri Senator Ephraim Maina has said.
Maina said the country now relies on Uganda and Tanzania for potatoes, onions, tomatoes, fruits and maize which are also grown by local farmers, pushing prices down.
This means local farmers are being edged out, pushing thousands of families to poverty, Maina said.
Other imports come from South Africa and Egypt, the legislator told the Star on phone.
Data from the Kenya National Bureau of statics showed that food imports into country reached Sh100 billion in August last year.
Over-reliance on rain-fed agriculture has been blamed for rise in food imports.
“The government should urgently come up with policies that will bring back agriculture sector to the level it was in the 1970s,” he said.
Maina said sugarcane, tea, coffee and dairy sectors are limping because of government failure to prioritise policies aimed that preserving them.
“Today, the country is producing 15 per cent of what it was producing in the 70s, the situation has reached alarming levels,” he said.
The legislator said public funds should be used to turn around the agriculture sector.
The senator said the Agriculture cabinet secretary should streamline the Kenya Tea Development Authority so that it can work well for tea farmers.
“KTDA should even be abolished and a new body formed to address issues affecting farmers,” he said.
The senator said there has been blatant stealing from coffee farmers by cooperative societies and marketers who have been manipulating the industry.
The legislator said reports circulating on both social and traditional media of people uprooting tea bushes has shown how people feel oppressed by various systems.
He said if Kenya is to develop, then more emphasis must be put on boosting agriculture.
The legislator Kenya has a good climatic condition favourable for growing a variety of crops and expressed frustration that the country was importing staple food, eggs and fruits among others.
