VOA标准英语2008年-Action Aid International-Malawi Launches Hunger

By Lameck Masina
Blantyre, Malawi
22 January 2008

In Malawi, the government, non-profit organizations and other stakeholders have introduced a new initiative to combat hunger. The move – called Hunger Free – is part of a worldwide campaign to eliminate hunger in poor countries.  The campaign in Malawi aims to introduce laws that guarantee the right to food for all so hunger can be cut in half by the year 2015.  Voice of America English to Africa Service reporter Lameck Masina in Blantyre says for the past two years, Malawi has been making progress in efforts to grow enough food to feed the country.

Statistics from agriculture experts show that this year, farmers harvested more than three million metric tons of the main staple¹, maize². That’s a surplus of over one million metric tons.

But despite that achievement, there are still pockets of people threatened by hunger.

The hardest hit areas include the towns of Kasungu, Nsanje, Chikwawa and Karonga in the north. In Kasungu, the food shortage is largely attributed to a dry spell that lasted for months, while in the other three towns, it’s due to flooding.

The government, Action Aid and other NGO’s are working to ensure that all hungry Malawians have access to food. The government has approved the Malawi Growth and Development Strategy, part of its commitment to the goal set by the UN and AU to cut hunger and poverty in half by 2015.

Heading the effort in Malawi is Chandiwira Chisi.  He’s the Governance and Campaigns Coordinator³ for ActionAid Malawi, with a background in demographic studies. 

He says the campaign will make sure there are enough laws to guarantee that all Malawians have access to food. The laws, he says, also will aim to ensure that women have the right to own land. They’ll also help Malawians hold the government, individuals and corporations accountable under certain circumstances – such as lack of political will or mismanagement leading to a loss of access to food, water, land and seeds. 

He says, “Basically, in the first place, we are saying there has to be a way (for) government (to) ensure that the gains that have been made should be sustained in the area of food and nutrition security. For instance, if we now have enough maize or enough food on the ground, is it not possible for us to come up with a law that could guarantee the realization⁴ to food for every Malawian?”

In the past, observers attributed most of the hunger problem to what they saw as the government’s failure to properly handle food items.

In 2004, the Malawian government sold the entire maize surplus to Kenya and Mozambique--a development that led to Malawi’s worst bout⁵ of hunger and to the deaths of children.

He says if adequate laws had been in place then, there would have been a mechanism⁶ for the people of Malawi to bring the issue to the government’s attention.

Another development that critics have described as a flaw in the official food policy is the government’s decision to donate some of the surplus maize to neighboring countries. This year, the government has donated five thousand metric tons each of grain in Malawi’s storage silos to Swaziland and Lesotho. It also sold 400,000 metric tons to Zimbabwe. The action – which was initially⁷ considered a goodwill⁸ gesture -- has boomeranged, and Malawi is now left with a surplus of about 80,000 tons. Agriculture experts say that’s too little to feed the 13 million Malawians in the event of another hunger crisis. But the government maintains there is enough maize to feed the population until the next harvest period.

Besides the proposed law, there are already political measures underway to improve food security.

The AU project and the New Partnership⁹ for African Development (NEPAD) is calling on countries to increase the amount of funding allotted¹⁰ to their ministries¹¹ of agriculture. 

Chisi says the government has already taken action to meet the request.

“We are aware that over the years, budgetary allocation for Ministry¹² of Agriculture has shifted from three percent to about 13 percent. These are political commitments on the part of government and we believe with concerted effort we can be able to look at hunger as history by 2015,” he says.

Malawi’s ActionAid coordinator also says his organization, in coordination¹³ with local non-governmental organizations, is currently trying to come up with a Right to Food Bill, which is currently being drafted. 

This means that Malawians will still have to wait a bit longer before their right to food is supported by legislation.

Chisi says there is no public opposition¹⁴ to the campaign for the law, even the government supports it. He says it should only be a matter of months before Malawians have another tool in the arsenal¹⁵ to ensure food is distributed fairly and responsibly.

ActionAid has launched similar campaigns in Brazil, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, Mozambique, Ghana and Vietnam.

 

1 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。

2 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。

3 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

4 realization   

n.实现；认识到，深刻了解

参考例句：

• We shall gladly lend every effort in our power toward its realization.我们将乐意为它的实现而竭尽全力。
• He came to the realization that he would never make a good teacher.他逐渐认识到自己永远不会成为好老师。

5 bout   

n.侵袭，发作；一次(阵，回)；拳击等比赛

参考例句：

• I was suffering with a bout of nerves.我感到一阵紧张。
• That bout of pneumonia enfeebled her.那次肺炎的发作使她虚弱了。

6 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 goodwill   

n.善意，亲善，信誉，声誉

参考例句：

• His heart is full of goodwill to all men.他心里对所有人都充满着爱心。
• We paid ￡10,000 for the shop,and ￡2000 for its goodwill.我们用一万英镑买下了这家商店，两千英镑买下了它的信誉。

9 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

10 allotted   

分配，拨给，摊派( allot的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I completed the test within the time allotted . 我在限定的时间内完成了试验。
• Each passenger slept on the berth allotted to him. 每个旅客都睡在分配给他的铺位上。

11 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

12 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

13 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

14 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

15 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。