美国国家公共电台 NPR A Dip In Global Prices Creates Cocoa Crisis For Ivory Coast's Farmers

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

The price of cocoa has collapsed¹ on international markets. That's devastated² hundreds of thousands of small farmers in West Africa, which produces most of the world's cocoa. Alex Duval Smith reports from San Pedro in Ivory Coast, the world's biggest cocoa exporter.

ALEX DUVAL SMITH, BYLINE³: On her tiny homestead just off the main road, 35-year-old Janine Allini grates a cassava root into a large tub. It's the only thing she's feeding her three kids at the moment. Her husband, George Kouame Koffi, still hasn't been paid for the cocoa he harvested back in October on his 12 acres.

GEORGE KOUAME KOFFI: (Through interpreter) There's no fish. There's nothing, not even chicken. See; we can't even raise chickens. How are we going to eat? It's hard.

SMITH: Cocoa was brought to Ivory Coast by its French colonizers. By now, George tells me it's been the case for several generations, but everyone in these communities relies on the crop.

KOFFI: (Through interpreter) We use the cocoa money for everything - the fields, the family, the children's school fees. Sometimes the teacher sends them home. He says, go; tell your parents to send money. I'm scared. I'm scared for the future of my children.

SMITH: Thanks to good weather, there've been bumper⁴ harvests in recent years, but now the world price is at its lowest since 2008. International buyers, mindful of their profits, are backing out of their contracts. George and his family are directly feeling the impact of what's been going on the far-away New York stock exchange.

There's a musty smell of fermenting⁵ cocoa running down this row of trucks outside the cargo⁶ plants at San Pedro. I've counted about 150 30-ton trucks lined up. It's all about unloading your cocoa as soon as possible before it rots, while it still has a value.

Farmers were promised a high crop price this year - $1.80 per kilo. Now many are forced to sell their cocoa for less to feed their families. Others are holding out for the promised price, risking that their beans will rot. They're building up debt, and so is the nation. Economists⁷ Youssouf Carius...

YOUSSOUF CARIUS: This is really, really serious if it remains⁸. Around 30 percent of the debts of the country is in dollars. If the crisis remains like this, it will impact the financial capacity in dollars of Ivory Coast to honor that service of debt. That could be really, really difficult.

SMITH: Back at the farm with George Kouame Koffi. He takes me on a walk to see the cocoa trees. We wade⁹ through layers of dry, brown leaves.

First time I'm seeing the inside of a cocoa pod. It's yellow on the outside. It seems to have white flesh. It conceals¹⁰ the cocoa beans.

(Speaking French).

KOFFI: (Speaking French).

SMITH: It's like a sweet fruit. (Speaking French).

KOFFI: (Speaking French).

SMITH: Chocolate can be bought in the supermarket in the nearest town, but actually, it's too expensive.

KOFFI: (Speaking French).

SMITH: George says the plantation¹¹ is in bad shape. He urgently needs some cash to spray chemicals against insects and mold to save his trees for next season. Farmers like him are desperate. They simply don't know what's coming next. For NPR News, I'm Alex Duval Smith in San Pedro, Ivory Coast.

(SOUNDBITE OF BEAR'S DEN SONG, "AULD WIVES")

1 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

2 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bumper   

n.(汽车上的)保险杠；adj.特大的，丰盛的

参考例句：

• The painting represents the scene of a bumper harvest.这幅画描绘了丰收的景象。
• This year we have a bumper harvest in grain.今年我们谷物丰收。

5 fermenting   

v.（使）发酵( ferment的现在分词 )；（使）激动；骚动；骚扰

参考例句：

• The fermenting wine has bubbled up and over the top. 发酵的葡萄酒已经冒泡，溢了出来。 来自辞典例句
• It must be processed through methods like boiling, grinding or fermenting. 它必须通过煮沸、研磨、或者发酵等方法加工。 来自互联网

6 cargo   

n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物

参考例句：

• The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
• A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。

7 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

10 conceals   

v.隐藏，隐瞒，遮住( conceal的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• He conceals his worries behind a mask of nonchalance. 他装作若无其事，借以掩饰内心的不安。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Drunkenness reveals what soberness conceals. 酒醉吐真言。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 plantation   

n.种植园，大农场

参考例句：

• His father-in-law is a plantation manager.他岳父是个种植园经营者。
• The plantation owner has possessed himself of a vast piece of land.这个种植园主把大片土地占为己有。