VOA标准英语2011--Challenges Slow Kenyan Cotton Industry's

Challenges Slow Kenyan Cotton Industry's Rebound¹

Kenya’s fledgling cotton industry has been picking up in recent months with a spike² in world prices for cotton. But the once-flourishing business still has a lot of obstacles to overcome to increase the country’s cotton supply and modernize³ its cotton mills, or "ginneries."
Business is brisk at Makueni Ginneries in Kenya’s Eastern province. But it wasn’t always this way.
Real estate agent David Masika purchased Makueni Ginneries 10 years ago. In the first year of operation, he sold 200 kilos of cotton. Last year - for the first time in a decade - Makueni Ginneries turned a profit, selling 600,000 kilos of cotton, or about 1,000 bales. When Masika first purchased the ginnery, his workers were using 1960s technology. Now, his ginnery is one of only four in the entire country that has modernized⁴.
“We got into this vicious circle where we then were wondering, do I completely modernize this thing when I don’t know whether the cotton is coming? About a year ago, as the cotton now started building up, we have also started modernizing⁵ the ginnery," he said. "We have got half of the ginning machinery⁶ now.”
Masika’s concerns about cotton supply and equipment are echoed all across Kenya’s cotton and textile industries. The once-vibrant cotton industry took a nosedive in the 1990s and is only now starting to get back on its feet. But it might be too little too late.
Kenya is part of the United States’ African Growth and Opportunity Act, or "AGOA," which provides duty-free and quota-free treatment for eligible⁷ apparel articles and other products. The aim is to strengthen African countries’ economies by increasing access to U.S. markets.
According to Kenyan government figures, apparel exports under AGOA have tripled from 2001 to 2006. But, there is a requirement that countries must be able to source the raw materials for their products regionally by September 2012 or else lose their eligibility⁸ under AGOA. And that has Kenya’s cotton and textiles industry in a panic.
“If an extension period of two or three years by AGOA, I confidently say that we will be able to produce enough cotton to meet our local demands to quality for the AGOA market, “ said Micah Powon, chief executive officer of the regulatory board Cotton Development Authority, or "CODA."
Powon tells VOA the industry produced 30,000 bales of cotton last year. But the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation⁹ says a more accurate figure is anywhere from 14,000 to 16,000 bales.
Compounding the problem of low cotton supply and poor machinery is African countries’ inability to turn their cotton into fabric¹⁰, and ultimately clothing. AGOA considers fabric to be a raw resource that must be sourced from other African countries under AGOA rather than being imported from places like China.
Jaswinder Bedi, chairman of the African Cotton and Textile Industries Federation, says that a first step to producing fabric is for the Cotton Development Authority to broaden its focus.
“They need to have people on board who are from the full value chain - people in the apparel business, maybe one board seat; one for the textile millers¹¹, one for the spinners,” he said.
CODA chief executive officer Micah Powon says his agency’s priorities at the moment are to set a fair payment to cotton farmers, produce high-quality cotton seed, and modernize facilities.
“If a farmer is given the right price, then he is going to grow cotton," he said. "If our ginneries are going to be efficient, we are going to increase the volumes that are produced within a given unit of kilowatt¹². “
As of mid-August, Powon, Bedi and other industry officials were calling on Washington to extend AGOA’s raw materials provision past the September 2012 deadline. Officials say they are confident that U.S. Congress will do so.

1 rebound   

v.弹回；n.弹回，跳回

参考例句：

• The vibrations accompanying the rebound are the earth quake.伴随这种回弹的振动就是地震。
• Our evil example will rebound upon ourselves.我们的坏榜样会回到我们自己头上的。

2 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

3 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

4 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

5 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

6 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

7 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

8 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

9 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

10 fabric   

n.织物，织品，布；构造，结构，组织

参考例句：

• The fabric will spot easily.这种织品很容易玷污。
• I don't like the pattern on the fabric.我不喜欢那块布料上的图案。

11 millers   

n.（尤指面粉厂的）厂主( miller的名词复数 )；磨房主；碾磨工；铣工

参考例句：

• Millers and bakers sought low grain prices. 磨粉厂主和面包师寻求低廉的谷物价格。 来自辞典例句
• He told me he already been acquainted with the Millers. 他跟我说他同米勒一家已经很熟。 来自互联网

12 kilowatt   

n.千瓦

参考例句：

• They pay thirty fen per kilowatt hour.他们每度电付三角钱。
• The watt is a small unit of power so that we use the kilowatt instead.瓦特是小功率的单位，因此我们用千瓦代之。