VOA慢速英语2010年-Development Report - Increasing Food S

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Agricultural experts have launched a land and water management project in the Middle East. The project seeks to increase food security in dry areas. Researchers say the water availability in some of the areas has dropped well below the internationally recognized standard.

Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, the West Bank, Syria and Yemen are all taking part in the project. It is part of a larger ten-year effort called the Water and Livelihoods¹ Initiative. The project is also expected to increase household income for farmers in the areas.

The United States Agency for International Development provided one million dollars for the Water and Livelihoods Initiative. Scott Christianson is an agricultural development advisor² with U.S.A.I.D. He helped develop the project while working for the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas. He says the countries taking part in the project were all carefully selected.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSON: "They all share a socio-economic and cultural heritage that's fairly homogeneous. We feel that it's going to maximize our opportunity for trading of knowledge that we will generate in the project."

Research by the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas and its partners has already proven to be successful. New irrigation methods are expected to double wheat production while using one-third of the water required for full irrigation. Experts say the new methods also increase crop production up to five times more than crops that depend on rainfall only.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas will provide technical support for the project. Officials from the International Water Management Institute and the International Food Policy Research Institute are also taking part in the effort.

Each team will be joined by experts from local research institutions, universities and government agencies.

SCOTT CHRISTIANSON: "We have good partnerships³ among the countries within each agro-eco system so that through this twinning they can learn lessons from each other and work together effectively through time."

Scott Christianson and other officials met in Amman, Jordan last week. They attended an international conference on food security and climate change in dry areas. Nearly one-fourth of the world's people live in these areas.

Officials say more must be done to deal with water shortages in agriculture. If not, they say, the future of food security, economic development and social stability in dry areas will be put at risk.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

1 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。

2 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

3 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句