时间:2018-12-08 作者:英语课 分类:VOA标准英语2015年(七月)


英语课

冲突和气候影响粮食安全


A new report says there were both advances and setbacks in food security in 2014. Poverty was reduced last year and the number of hungry people declined. However, conflict, climate change and disease disrupted food production and trade.


一份最新报告称2014年的粮食安全既有进步也有挫折,去年贫困问题得以减轻,饥饿人口数量已经降低。然而,冲突、气候变化和疾病影响了粮食生产和贸易。


The International Food Policy Research Institute has released its Global Food Policy Report. IFPRI Director- General Shenggen Fan listed some of the accomplishments 1 of last year.


国际粮食政策研究所公布了这份《全球粮食政策报告》,该机构总干事樊胜根列举了去年取得的一些成就。


“We have achieved some progress. For example, we paid more attention to nutrition. We also think water, hygiene 2 are very important in solving children’s under nutrition. We have also seen new commitments on trade and climate change – and a focus on family farming. The year 2014 was a year of family farming. So we made enough progress on various fronts.”


“我们取得了一些进步,比如,我们更多地关注营养,我们也认识到水、卫生对解决营养不良儿童问题上所起的重要作用。我们还看到在贸易和气候变化上的一些新承诺,并关注家庭农场。2014年就是家庭农场年,所以我们在各个方面取得了足够的进步。”


But Fan said 2014 had its share of threats to food security.


但樊说2014年也遇到了粮食安全威胁。


“For example,” he said, “persistent conflicts, reemerging of zoonotic diseases – avian influenza 3, Ebola – and continued extreme weather shocks – typhoon in the Philippines – rising food safety scandals – Taiwan, mainland China and beyond. There was also the higher prices of nutritious 4 foods, such as vegetables and fruits, despite very stable grain prices for the last four or five years.”


“比如,持续不断的冲突、再度出现的动物传染病,如禽流感、埃博拉,以及一直不断的极端气候事件,如菲律宾的台风,以及台湾和中国大陆等地不断出现的粮食安全丑闻。同时蔬菜和水果等营养食物的价格也在上升,尽管过去四、五年谷物价格一直很稳定。”


Syria topped the list of conflicts in 2014 with its regional impact. Somalia and South Sudan are other examples of how conflict threatens food security for millions of people.


叙利亚冲突以其地区影响排名2014年冲突的榜首,索马里和南苏丹也说明了冲突如何威胁数百万人的粮食安全。


“We have seen the increased correlation 5 between conflicts and increased malnutrition 6 in many parts of the world. In the rest of the world, we have achieved tremendous progress in cutting hunger and malnutrition, although the number is still very high. But it is in some of the conflict zones that malnutrition is actually rising,” he said.


“我们看到在全世界很多地区冲突和不断加剧的营养不良之间日益密切的关联,在世界其他地方,我们在减轻饥饿和营养不良上取得巨大进步,尽管这个数字仍很高。但在一些冲突地区,营养不良仍在加剧。”


Fan said climate change has long-term consequences on food security. He says there are still some skeptics, despite the overwhelming number of studies confirming its effects.


樊说气候变化对粮食安全有着长期影响,他说尽管有无数多的研究已经证实了其影响,但仍有人保持怀疑。


“Increased floods, cyclones 7, droughts definitely should change their mind. And extreme weather events will happen more frequent and more extreme. That will affect the ability of human beings in producing more food and more nutritious food.”


“不断增加的洪灾、台风和干旱肯定能让他们改变想法,极端气候事件将越发频繁和严重地发生,这将影响生产更多食物、更多有营养食物的能力。”


The Global Food Policy Report said conditions for thousands of people fleeing violence in northern Nigeria, Central African Republic and Mali were made worse by low rainfall and drought. It said that a “lack of rain threatened the food and nutrition security and livelihoods 8 of both hosting communities and refugees.”


这份《全球粮食政策报告》称,在尼日利亚北部、中非共和国和马里,为躲避暴力而逃难的人们因为降雨稀少和干旱处境更加艰难。报告称“缺少雨水威胁着原有居民和难民的粮食和营养安全以及生计。”


The report added the occurrence of both “weather shocks and conflicts may not be coincidental”…and said that “abnormally high temperatures in Sudan and South Sudan…strongly raise the risk of conflict.”


报告还说,“气候事件和冲突的发生可能不是巧合”,称“苏丹和南苏丹不正常的高温天气加剧了发生冲突的危险。”


The IFPRI Director-General said lessons about food security were learned during the Ebola crisis.


这位国际粮食政策研究所总干事说,在埃博拉危机期间就吸取了有关粮食安全的教训。


“The first lesson we learn is our global food system is very vulnerable to diseases. Ebola has a huge impact on people’s access to nutritious food. The production was interrupted. The market was disrupted. The trade does not come. For example, some of the rice exporting countries were very reluctant to send their grains to the Ebola affected 9 countries,” he said.


“我们吸取的第一个教训是,我们的全球粮食系统很容易受到疾病的影响。埃博拉极大地影响着人们获取营养食物的渠道,其生产被中断,市场也被扰乱,贸易不复存在。比如,一些大米出口国家非常不愿意将粮食送到受埃博拉影响的国家。”


The International Food Policy Research Institute also said middle income countries play a pivotal role in eliminating hunger and malnutrition. It said while Brazil, China, India, Indonesia and Mexico may be “rising economic powerhouses,” middle income countries are home to more than 360 million hungry people.


国际粮食政策研究所还说,中等收入国家在消除饥饿和营养不良方面发挥着关键作用,称尽管巴西、中国、印度、印尼和墨西哥可能是“正在崛起的经济强国”,但中等收入国家却有着超过3.6亿的饥饿人口。


Fan said, “They are facing a triple burden of malnutrition. Hunger – 50 percent of the world’s hungry people live in these countries. Then, lack of micronutrients – Vitamin A, zinc 10, iron, and also increased obesity 11 and overweight. So, they are facing triple burdens and the second burden, third burden arising very quickly.”


樊说,“这些国家面临着营养不良带来的三重负担,全世界50%的饥饿人口生活在这些国家。营养物质的缺乏,包括维生素A、锌、铁也加剧了肥胖和超重。所以,这些国家面临着三重负担,而且第二、三种负担在很快加剧。”


The IFPRI report called on governments of middle income countries to “reshape their food systems to focus on nutrition and health, closing the gender 12 gap in agriculture and improving rural infrastructure 13.”


国际粮食政策研究所的报告还呼吁中等收入国家政府“重整粮食系统,关注营养和健康问题,缩小农业的性别差距,并改善农业基础设施。”


 


Fan said the report will be used to influence the writing of the Sustainable Development Goals. They’ll soon succeed the Millennium 14 Development Goals. There could be as many as 17 SDGs compared to eight for the MDGs, and they could contain nearly 170 target areas.


樊说这份报告将被用来影响可持续发展目标的编写,该目标将很快取代千年发展目标。与只有8个目标的千年发展目标相比,可持续发展目标将有17个目标,而且后者将包含将近170个目标领域。



1 accomplishments
n.造诣;完成( accomplishment的名词复数 );技能;成绩;成就
  • It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
  • Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
2 hygiene
n.健康法,卫生学 (a.hygienic)
  • Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
  • He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。
3 influenza
n.流行性感冒,流感
  • They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
  • Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。
4 nutritious
adj.有营养的,营养价值高的
  • Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
  • Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
5 correlation
n.相互关系,相关,关连
  • The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
  • A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。
6 malnutrition
n.营养不良
  • 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。
7 cyclones
n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 );旋风;飓风;暴风
  • The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
  • Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句
8 livelihoods
生计,谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )
  • First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者,他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
  • With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小,他们的传统生计受到了威胁。
9 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
10 zinc
n.锌;vt.在...上镀锌
  • Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
  • Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。
11 obesity
n.肥胖,肥大
  • One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
  • Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。
12 gender
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
  • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
13 infrastructure
n.下部构造,下部组织,基础结构,基础设施
  • 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。
14 millennium
n.一千年,千禧年;太平盛世
  • The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
  • We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。