VOA标准英语2014--当地企业主导非洲种子产业

 

Local Start-Ups Dominate Africa’s Seed Industry 当地企业主导非洲种子产业

A new report released on May 7, finds that locally owned African seed companies now dominate Africa’s seed industry.  The analysis was conducted by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).  It revealed that 80 small- to medium-sized African seed companies in 16 countries are equipped to produce over 80,000 metric tons of professionally certified¹ seeds in 2014. 

AGRA’s director of Program for Africa’s Seed Systems, also called PASS, says Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit is evident in the rapid growth of local seed companies over a very short time. 

Dr. Joe DeVries discussed how access to local seed that has become essential to Africa’s farmers.

Take advantage of new seed trade policies

“If you look historically, seed has always been viewed as a critical input², and even one that’s kind of ‘sine qua non’, you know for a green revolution, but we never really were approaching it the right way.

“We were using public agencies to get seed to farmers. We were doing ad hoc projects funded by donors³ to get the seeds to farmers, but we never really treated it as a local business. 

“So, what we’ve done is said, “Look. Using entrepreneurship and taking advantage of some of the new policies that liberalize commerce in seeds in Africa, we can make a difference now.” 

The report argued that if you identify better varieties of crops that farmers can grow, and link those breeding programs to entrepreneurs, they can become successful.  But, said DeVries, don’t stop there.

“Really stick with them and do some training,” the AGRA program director said. “Help them to develop a little bit of infrastructure⁴ around production, processing, and distribution of seed…” DeVries said the benefit is “a predictable outcome which is good for farmers and very good for Africa.”

The minister who inspired Nigeria’s seed industry

Nigeria is a success story because the nation rapidly produced many varieties of thousands of tons of seeds each year through partnerships⁵ and a revolutionary concept authored by Nigeria’s minister of agriculture, Akinwumi Adesina, who is also a former AGRA vice⁶ president. 

DeVries said Adesina liberalized the production of foundation seed.  “Foundation seed is the seed you use to produce certifieds.  And for a long time in Nigeria, it was just not there.  So, even if you wanted to run a seed company, you wouldn’t have enough foundation seed stock to get up to the critical level where you could operate profitably.”

When these barriers were removed, DeVries said a new program ensured that all of the deserving farmers in the country could obtain a voucher⁷ that would allow them to purchase the seeds they needed from an agro dealer⁸ at a reduced price.

Through AGRA intervention⁹, DeVries said, they drew the attention of the Nigerian government “so that it could actually have something to work with.  And then further upstream, we’re continuing to support the breeding of improved varieties,” said the AGRA program director.

More success stories in the African seen industry are coming, he said, but they face challenges for smallholder farmers who need  support to purchase the high-priced fertilizers.

“I certainly hope that more governments will institute subsidy¹⁰ programs to reduce the price of fertilizer,” said DeVries. “We feel like the seed industry can probably continue to serve up seed at an affordable¹¹ price for smallholder farmers, but fertilizers really are expensive,” he said. In the short term these subsidies¹² will be crucial to opening up markets for African seeds in Europe and the United States.

DeVries stressed that now that good seed is available for smallholder farmers, they need support to buy the fertilizers to improve crop production.

1 certified   

a.经证明合格的；具有证明文件的

参考例句：

• Doctors certified him as insane. 医生证明他精神失常。
• The planes were certified airworthy. 飞机被证明适于航行。

2 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

3 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

5 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

6 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

7 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

8 dealer   

n.商人，贩子

参考例句：

• The dealer spent hours bargaining for the painting.那个商人为购买那幅画花了几个小时讨价还价。
• The dealer reduced the price for cash down.这家商店对付现金的人减价优惠。

9 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

10 subsidy   

n.补助金，津贴

参考例句：

• The university will receive a subsidy for research in artificial intelligence.那个大学将得到一笔人工智能研究的补助费。
• The living subsidy for senior expert's family is included in the remuneration.报酬已包含高级专家家人的生活补贴。

11 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

12 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》