VOA标准英语2008年-UN: 22 Countries in Danger of Famine

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
28 May 2008

The United Nations food agency says 22 countries are particularly threatened by the global food crisis that has seen soaring prices increase hunger and led to protests and riots in some countries.  The FAO says these countries are vulnerable because they suffer from chronic¹ hunger and are forced to import food and fuel.  Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

The 22 countries particularly vulnerable to food security problems are listed in a report by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) prepared for a meeting next week in Rome.  The U.N. food agency says these countries suffer from chronic hunger and are forced to import much of their food and fuel.

FAO economist² Kostas Stamoulis used Eritrea as an example, a country he said imports 100 percent of its petroleum³.

"They have to bear the burden of high petroleum import costs," he said.  "They import 80 percent of the major grains produced in the country and they were hit by the fact that prices of major grains have increased substantially," he said.

In addition, Stamoulis says nearly 75 percent of Eritrea's population is undernourished. 

The FAO economist said all the countries on the threatened list had a higher than 30-percent hunger prevalence.  Stamoulis said many of the endangered countries are in Africa.

"African countries from the point of view of undernourishment are the ones that are overall in the worst situation than in other regions," he added.  "The continent has extremely high prevalence of hunger."

The FAO will host a conference that opens next Tuesday where delegates from all over the world will discuss high food prices and the challenges to reduce food insecurity, posed in the long-term by climate change and other factors.  A number of world leaders are expected to attend. 

The U.N. agency says the meeting will be a "historic chance" to re-launch the fight against hunger and poverty and boost agricultural production in developing countries.

"We are trying to attract the attention of the international community and bring people in the same venue⁴ to make decisions, outline plans, set up strategies for facing the short and long-term consequences of high food prices for food security," he explained.  "This is a high level conference on challenges.  And we believe that a lot of these challenges must be faced through coordinated⁵ action among countries and not in isolation⁶."

The FAO report says the conference should agree on plans to boost local food production and increase investments to stimulate⁷ production.  It adds that leaders need to agree on assistance to the poor, including food subsidies⁸ and cash transfers.

1 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

2 economist   

n.经济学家，经济专家，节俭的人

参考例句：

• He cast a professional economist's eyes on the problem.他以经济学行家的眼光审视这个问题。
• He's an economist who thinks he knows all the answers.他是个经济学家，自以为什么都懂。

3 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

5 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

6 isolation   

n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离

参考例句：

• The millionaire lived in complete isolation from the outside world.这位富翁过着与世隔绝的生活。
• He retired and lived in relative isolation.他退休后，生活比较孤寂。

7 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

8 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》