VOA慢速英语2014 气候变化会使非洲农场受重创

 

AS IT IS 2014-10-21 Climate Change Could Destroy Farms in Africa 气候变化会使非洲农场受重创

A new study says the speed and severity of climate change could cause major damage to small African farms. These farmers are already struggling to deal with the effects of climate change.

The study was released at the African Green Revolution Forum¹ in Addis Ababa last month. It is called the 2014 African Agriculture Status Report. David Sarfo Ameyaw was a lead producer of the report. He is a director at AGRA -- the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

“Small-scale farmers are the backbone² of African agriculture. About 70 percent of the rural population in sub-Saharan Africa are small-scale farmers. They produce about 80 percent of the food need in Africa.”

Small-scale farmers grow most of the staple³ crops in Africa on fields that are usually from two to 10 hectares. Small-scale farmers in Africa are much less productive than those in other continents. In African countries, farmers produce about 1.5 tons of cereal from each hectare. Farmers in many other countries produce more than 5 tons per hectare. Mr. Ameyaw says there are several reasons for this difference.

“About 90 percent of these farms are rain-fed, which means that they depend on the weather. Weather is rainfall. Weather is drought. Weather is [an] increase in temperature. They are [more] exposed to [these] climate effects than any other part of the world. On top of that most of them use their own labor⁴ or family labor. They are not mechanized.”

The AGRA report says farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are also dealing⁵ with rising temperatures.

“It has been projected that within the next 35 years the increase in temperature will be between 1.5 to 2.5 degrees [Celsius]. This major rise in temperature bring(s) a lot of issues to Africa food security. It is going to affect reduction in yield -- which is already low – [and an] increase in vulnerability to pests and diseases that will kill most of the livestock⁶.”

Climate change is also expected to affect the average length of the growing season. This could continue to reduce the already-low amount of crops that come from each hectare.

Mr. Ameyaw says experts are urging African farmers to reduce the effects of climate change with a program called “climate-smart agriculture.” The program includes ways to improve and care for soil.

“We are talkin(g) about farmers being able to adopt both organic and inorganic⁷ nutrient⁸ enriching technology to improve their soil fertility. Things that we promote are the right use of inorganic and organic fertilizer, soil tillage, the right use of cultivating the land. Putting things like legume(s) and cereals together to increase the soil nutrient content.”

Experts are also urging small-scale farmers to grow new kinds of crops. Some crops do not need as much manufactured fertilizer. Others can grow well in times of high heat or a severe lack of water.

The AGRA official says scientists who create new kinds of crops are increasing both the productivity and nutritional⁹ value of crops. These scientists are called crop breeders.

“In AGRA, what we do is to be able to help African scientists. Currently, we have trained about 200 African crop breeders. We have been able to release over 400 Africa(n) varieties. About 80 percent of these varieties have been commercialized. When I say ‘commercialized’ it means it has been multiplied by Africa seed companies.”

The new kinds of crops include maize¹⁰, sweet potato, sorghum¹¹, soya and cassava. Mr. Ameyaw notes that the new versions of these plants are not genetically¹² modified.

“No, no, no, no, no. AGRA, as an organization, doesn’t promote GMO. We are talking about conventional breeding to improve varieties that will be adopted by the farmers and that can be able to withstand the climate change that we are going through.”

Mr. Ameyaw says there is a great possibility for agricultural growth in Africa led by small-scale farmers. But he says there is a great need to increase investment and expand climate-smart agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. He estimates that would cost more than $1,600 for every small-scale farmer each year for 10 years. And he says he knows where that money will come from.

“Governments would invest about 50 percent. And (the) private sector¹³ will invest about 40 percent of this amount to transform African agriculture by 2020.”

He says money is needed for research and development and for the training of scientists. He also says researchers must develop methods to reduce waste from the harvest using improved processing, storage, transportation and modern marketing¹⁴.

Words in This Story

severe – adj. not gentle; causing much pain, sadness or damage

staple – n. an important food that is eaten very often

crops – n. plants that are grown and gathered for food, such as grains, fruits and vegetables

nutrition – n. the process of eating the right kind of food so you can grow properly and be healthy

method – n. the way something is done

1 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。

2 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。

3 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 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。

7 inorganic   

adj.无生物的；无机的

参考例句：

• The fundamentals of inorganic chemistry are very important.无机化学的基础很重要。
• This chemical plant recently bought a large quantity of inorganic salt.这家化工厂又买进了大量的无机盐。

8 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。

9 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

10 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

11 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

12 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

13 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

14 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。