VOA标准英语2014--Climate Change May Overwhelm Farmers

 

Climate Change May Overwhelm Farmers

A new study says the “pace and severity of climate change” may overwhelm small-scale farmers in Africa. The study describes those farmers as the “mainstay of food production” on the continent. The findings were released at the African Green Revolution Forum¹ in Addis Ababa.

The 2014 African Agriculture Status Report says small-scale farmers are already struggling to keep up with the effects of climate change.

Dr. David Sarfo Ameyaw is managing editor of the report and Director of Strategy, Monitoring, Learning and Evaluation² at AGRA, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

He said, “Small-scale farmers are the backbone³ 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 staple⁴ crops in Africa on plots of land usually ranging two to 10 hectares. They lag far behind farmers in many other countries in cereal production with about one-point-five tons per hectare compared with over five tons elsewhere.

“About 90-precent 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 labor⁵ or family labor. They are not mechanized,” he said.

The AGRA report said farmers in sub-Saharan Africa are “contending with an increase in average temperatures.”

“It’s been projected that within the next 35 years the increase in temperature will be between one-point-five to two-point-five degrees [Celsius]. This major rise in temperature brings a lot of issues to Africa food security. It is going to affect reduction in yield, which is already low – increase invulnerability to pests and diseases that will kill most of the livestock,” said Ameyaw.

Climate change is also expected to affect the average length of the growing season, which could reduce already low crop yields.

Ameyaw said to mitigate⁶ the effects of climate change, African farmers are urged to adopt – what’s called – climate smart agriculture. It includes improved soil management.

“We are talking 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 legumes and cereals together to increase the soil nutrient content,” he said.

Another recommendation is the adoption⁹ of new crop varieties that rely less on manufactured fertilizers -- or have a higher tolerance¹⁰ for heat or drought. The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa official said plant breeders are also increasing both the productivity and nutritional¹¹ value of crops.

He said, “In AGRA, what we do is to be able to help African scientists. Currently, we have trained about 200 Africa crop breeders. We have been able to release over 400 Africa 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 varieties include maize¹², sweet potato, sorghum¹³, soya and cassava. Ameyaw says they are not genetically¹⁴ 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.”

Ameyaw said, “Despite climate change, there is enormous potential for smallholder-led agricultural growth.” But he adds, “There is an urgent need to increase investment and expand climate smart agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa.”

He estimated that would cost more than $1,600 per smallholder farmer each year for 10 years.

“Through donors¹⁵ and other people, we will be able to invest about 10-percent of these amounts. Governments would invest about 50-percent. And private sector¹⁶ will invest about 40-percent of this amount to transform Africa agriculture by 2020.”

Investments, he said, are needed for such things as research and development, the training of scientists, reducing post-harvest waste through better processing, storage and transportation and modern marketing¹⁷ techniques.

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 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

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 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

10 tolerance   

n.宽容；容忍，忍受；耐药力；公差

参考例句：

• Tolerance is one of his strengths.宽容是他的一个优点。
• Human beings have limited tolerance of noise.人类对噪音的忍耐力有限。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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

15 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》

16 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。

17 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。