VOA标准英语2015--非洲粮食安全问题因地区而异

African Food Security Varies by Region 非洲粮食安全问题因地区而异

A new report on Africa’s food security showed regional differences in progress. Western Africa led the continent in reducing the number of undernourished people since the early 1990s. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization has released the first edition of the Regional Overview¹ of Food Insecurity in Africa.

Africa, as other parts of the world, has had two main targets for food security: the Millennium² Development Goal of reducing by half the proportion of undernourished people – and the tougher 1996 World Food Summit target of reducing by half the actual number of hungry people.

The findings may seem contradictory³ at first. For example, the prevalence of undernourished people in sub-Saharan Africa declined from 33 percent in the early 1990s to 23 percent today. So, in this case, prevalence is the percentage of Africa’s growing population affected⁴ by undernourishment. That’s gone down and that’s good.

However, the FAO report also showed that despite a smaller percentage of the overall population being undernourished, the actual number of undernourished people has increased. It’s risen from nearly 176 million in the early 1990s to 220 million today.

FAO Assistant Director General Bukar Tijani looks at the overall findings and sees bright prospects⁵ for Africa’s food security.

“There is a lot of improvement. Heads of state of all the African countries have made a very concrete resolve in the declaration in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea,” he said.

The long-titled Malabo Declaration on Accelerated Agricultural Growth and Transformation⁶ for Shared Prosperity and Improved Livelihoods⁷ was approved a year ago.

Tijani said, “Before that time there had been high level meetings and there were agreements to get a roadmap going back to the Maputo Declaration of 2003. Governments will make sure they focus more, in terms of policy, in terms of more investments.”

The 2003 Maputo Declaration called on African governments to invest 10 percent of their national budgets in agriculture.

The FAO’s Regional Overview of Food Insecurity said Angola, Djibouti, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Mali and Sao Tome and Principe “met the relevant Millennium Development Goal of halving⁸ the proportion of the population suffering from undernourishment and the World Food Summit target of halving the absolute numbers of the hungry.”

It said that West Africa made “particular strides.” Tijani said the region “reduced the ranks of the hungry by almost 11 million.” He described that as “significant progress despite rapid population growth and recurrent droughts in Sahel countries.”

The FAO report said Eastern and Southern Africa “made some progress,” while Middle Africa is “lagging behind” regarding both the MDG and World Food Summit targets.

Tijani highlighted some of the current obstacles to African food security.

“The effect of climate change, civil strife⁹, epidemics¹⁰ like Ebola and others – and also some insecurities --these are part of those phenomena¹¹ and things that are making food security very difficult.”

For example, the report said a 20 percent rise in hungry people in East Africa is blamed on “unfavorable climate and drought conditions,” while the doubling of hungry people in Central Africa is “largely due to civil strife.”

The findings also showed Africa’s poverty rate declined by 23 percent between 1993 and 2011.

As for children, the number of underweight children has declined in sub-Saharan Africa over the last 20 years, but there’s a growing number of children under five who are overweight.

Health officials said the dual¹² problems of undernourishment and obesity¹³ both can be blamed on poor nutrition, such as high calorie but low nutrient¹⁴ foods. Too much sugar and fat have been blamed in many cases.

1 overview   

n.概观，概述

参考例句：

• The opening chapter gives a brief historical overview of transport.第一章是运输史的简要回顾。
• The seminar aims to provide an overview on new media publishing.研讨会旨在综览新兴的媒体出版。

2 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

3 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

6 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

7 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

8 halving   

n.对分，二等分，减半[航空、航海]等分v.把…分成两半( halve的现在分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• You searched those halving your salary cut your enthusiasm. 你呈现，薪水减半降低了你的任务热情。 来自互联网
• Halving the repeater spacing made it possible to quadruple the bandwidth. 把增音机间隔缩小一半，就能使带宽增加三倍。 来自互联网

9 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

10 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。

11 phenomena   

n.现象

参考例句：

• Ade couldn't relate the phenomena with any theory he knew.艾德无法用他所知道的任何理论来解释这种现象。
• The object of these experiments was to find the connection,if any,between the two phenomena.这些实验的目的就是探索这两种现象之间的联系，如果存在着任何联系的话。

12 dual   

adj.双的；二重的，二元的

参考例句：

• The people's Republic of China does not recognize dual nationality for any Chinese national.中华人民共和国不承认中国公民具有双重国籍。
• He has dual role as composer and conductor.他兼作曲家及指挥的双重身分。

13 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

14 nutrient   

adj.营养的，滋养的；n.营养物，营养品

参考例句：

• Magnesium is the nutrient element in plant growth.镁是植物生长的营养要素。
• The roots transmit moisture and nutrient to the trunk and branches.根将水分和养料输送到干和枝。