TED演讲:我们是如何通过手机短信帮助饥饿的孩子填饱肚子的(3)

We totally underestimate the importance of our smallholder farmers.

我们完全低估了小型养殖户的重要性。

We're beginning to recognize how important they are and how they influence our medical health,

我们现在开始认识到他们有多重要，还有他们会如何影响我们的医疗健康，

our biosafety and more recently, our cognitive¹ and our physical health.

生物安全，还有最近提出的认知健康和生理健康。

They stand at the frontline of zoonotic epidemics².

他们站在人畜共患病流行的前线。

They pretty much underpin³ our existence.

他们可以说就是我们赖以生存的基础。

And they need to know so much, yet most lack knowledge on livestock⁴ disease prevention and treatment.

他们有太多需要去了解，然而，他们大多恰恰缺少有关于牲畜疾病预防和治疗方面的知识。

So how do they learn? Apart from shared experiences, trial and error,

所以他们从何了解呢？除了通过共享的经验，通过反复的试验试错，

conventional farming extension services are boots on the ground and radio

传统农业的推广服务和无线电广播，

expensive and hard to scale in the face of population growth.

在面对人口增长时，这显得不够经济也难以衡量成效。

Sounds pretty gloomy, doesn't it? But we're at an interesting point in Africa.

听起来挺沮丧的是吧？但是我们处在对于非洲来说一个非常有趣的时间节点上。

We're changing that narrative⁵ using innovative⁶ solutions, riding across scalable technologies.

我们将会跨过那些规模化的技术，使用一个具有创造性的方案来改变现状。

Knowledge doesn't have to be expensive.

知识不一定要是昂贵的。

My company developed an agricultural platform called iCow.

我的公司研发了一款农业平台名叫iCow。

We teach farmers best livestock practices using SMS over simple, low-end phones.

我们在简单低端的手机上，通过SMS（手机短信服务）教给农民们最好的畜牧业饲养方法。

Farmers receive three SMSs a week on best livestock practices,

农民们会在每周收到三条有关畜牧饲养方法的短信，

and those that execute the messages go on to see increases in productivity within as short a time as three months.

那些看完短信并学以致用的农民们，在短短三个月的时间内生产力就获得了提高。

The first increases in productivity, of course, are improved animal health.

生产率提高的第一个因素当然就是家畜健康水平的提高。

We use SMS because it is retentive⁷.

我们使用SMS的原因就是它容易存储信息。

Farmers store their messages, they write them down in books,

农民们保存这些信息，并把它们记载入册，

and in effect, we're drip-feeding agricultural manuals into the fields.

实际上，我们是一点一点把农业手册上的知识运用到实际生产之中。

1 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

2 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

3 underpin   

v.加固，支撑

参考例句：

• China needs regional stability to underpin its continued economic growth.中国需要地区稳定来巩固其持续的经济增长。
• These developments are underpinned by solid progress in heavy industry.重工业的稳固发展为这些进展打下了基础。

4 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

5 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

6 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

7 retentive   

v.保留的，有记忆的；adv.有记性地，记性强地；n.保持力

参考例句：

• Luke had an amazingly retentive memory.卢克记忆力惊人。
• He is a scholar who has wide learning and a retentive memory.他是一位博闻强记的学者。