2006年VOA标准英语-African Leaders Meet to Tackle Food Crisis
时间：2019-01-13 作者：英语课 分类：2006年VOA标准英语（六月）
By Gilbert Da Costa
Abuja
11 June 2006
An elderly woman carries part of the food ration 1 she received from the World Food Program in the drought-stricken southern Somali town of Wajid (file)
African leaders, farmers and international agriculture experts are meeting in Nigeria to come up with solutions to soil degradation 2 and food shortages on the world's poorest continent.
----------------------------------------
The so-called African fertilizer summit hopes to adopt strategies that could boost food production on the continent.
Some 200 million people in Africa are said to suffer from hunger, partly due to low soil fertility.
Experts say increased use of fertilizer is very important to achieving the green revolution Africa desperately 3 needs.
"Clearly, African farmers need to replenish 4 the soil nutrients 5. That means using chemical fertilizer and organic methods, both," said Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of sustainable development at Columbia University in New York. "This is critical, because we know that when farmers can use these better inputs 6, their food outputs can be doubled or tripled, or even quadrupled in some cases. Africa is a hungry continent, in part, because the soils are depleted 7 of nutrients."
Farmers in Africa use an average of eight kilograms of fertilizer per hectare yearly, as opposed to between 100- and 200-kilograms in other regions.
Average farm yields have continue to decline, leading to hunger and malnutrition 8.
Professor Sachs says rich countries have a responsibility to help Africa reverse the trend.
"The key, however, is not only what to do, but how to get it done, because Africa's poor farmers are too poor to buy the chemical and organic soil nutrients that they need," he added. "So, the rich world, instead of shipping 9 food aid, should be helping 10 small-holder African farmers get the inputs of fertilizer, improved seeds and organic methods, so that the farmers can grow more food on their own, and feed the African continent."
More than 500 delegates, including donor 11 agencies, African agriculture ministers, farmers and international agriculture experts are attending technical sessions that opened in Abuja on Saturday.
Several African leaders and heads of international development agencies are expected in the Nigerian capital on Tuesday to endorse a framework for agricultural growth, food security and rural development
- The country cut the bread ration last year.那个国家去年削减面包配给量。
- We have to ration the water.我们必须限量用水。
- There are serious problems of land degradation in some arid zones.在一些干旱地带存在严重的土地退化问题。
- Gambling is always coupled with degradation.赌博总是与堕落相联系。
- He was desperately seeking a way to see her again.他正拼命想办法再见她一面。
- He longed desperately to be back at home.他非常渴望回家。
- I always replenish my food supply before it is depleted.我总是在我的食物吃完之前加以补充。
- We have to import an extra 4 million tons of wheat to replenish our reserves.我们不得不额外进口四百万吨小麦以补充我们的储备。
- a lack of essential nutrients 基本营养的缺乏
- Nutrients are absorbed into the bloodstream. 营养素被吸收进血液。 来自《简明英汉词典》
- Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
- Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网
- In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
- It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。
- We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
- There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。
- The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
- By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。