VOA常速英语2014--NENA Region Faces Fresh Water Scarcity NENA地区面临饮用水短缺

NENA Region Faces Fresh Water Scarcity 1 NENA地区面临饮用水短缺

Water scarcity will be at the top of the agenda next week when officials from the Near East and North Africa meet in Rome. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization warns the availability of fresh water in the region could drop by 50 percent by 2050.

水资源短缺将会成为下星期罗马会议的主题，该议程由近东非和北非官方组织。联合国粮食和农业组织警告，到2050年，该地区的淡水资源将会下降百分之50。

The NENA region includes Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syria,Tunisia, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

NENA地区包括了阿尔及利亚、巴林、埃及、伊朗、伊拉克、约旦、科威特、黎巴嫩、利比亚、毛里塔尼亚、摩洛哥、阿曼、卡塔尔、沙特阿拉伯、苏丹、叙利亚、突尼斯、阿拉伯联合酋长国和也门。

Agriculture ministers and others will meet on the new Regional Water Scarcity Initiative. The goal is to identify strategies and policies to help the region adapt to the freshwater shortfall. Water scarcity could mean food insecurity.

农业部长和其他人将会出席地区水资源短缺的倡议活动。此次活动的目的是确定战略和方针，帮助当地适应淡水资源的短缺情况。水资源短缺可能带来粮食的安全问题。

The FAO’s representative in Egypt Pasquale Steduto said, “This region is already known to be very scarce – one of the most scare in the world.  But we are observing that there is an acceleration 2, and there is an intensification 3 of water scarcity that in the next 40 years will bring to the highest intensity 4 in history of this scarcity.”

联合国粮食和农业组织埃及代表，帕斯夸里?斯特杜托说：“该地区水资源短缺已经是众所周知，是全世界水荒情况最严重的地区之一。但我们观察到水资源短缺情况进一步加速，接下来40年水荒的持续恶化将会创造当地水荒最严重的历史记录”

The FAO reports in the previous 40 years “per capita freshwater availability in Near East and North African countries plummeted 5 by two-thirds.” Steduto says it’s a complex situation.

联合国粮食和农业组织报告显示过去的40年，“在近东非和北非地区，人均可饮用淡水资源直线下降2/3。”斯特杜脱认为这种情况很复杂。

“Several things are coming into play from the population [growth], but also climate change. So, we need to be ready to address all the challenges that will come and the region will face in the coming years,” he said.

他说：“这几种情况都是来源于人口增长，也因为是气候变化的原因。所以我们需要做好准备，应对所有即将到来的挑战，在接下来的几年，当地政府也要面对这些问题。”

The U.N. agency estimates that agriculture uses more than 85-percent of the “available rainfed, irrigated 6 and groundwater resources.”

联合国组织认为农业需要用到超过85%的“雨季降水、灌溉和地下水资源。”

Steduto said, “There is probably enough water for drinking. But for agriculture – for producing food – there is not enough. There was never enough in the past. There will be much less in the future. So one of the major challenges is that agriculture has to be more performing. It has to be more productive.”

斯特杜脱说：“对于饮食用水，可能还有足够的资源。但对于农业——农产品生产，就不够了。以前从来没有足够过，以后将会更少。所以当前一个重要挑战就是农业研究必须得有更多成效，必须得有更高效的生产方式。”

In other words, countries must produce more food with the water that’s available. The problem is the Near East and North Africa population is growing faster than the global average -- and along with it the demand for food. 

换句话说，国家必须利用有效的水资源生产出更多粮食。问题是近东非和北非地区人口增长速度快过世界平均水平，随着而来的是对食物的需求量。

“Due to the food crisis of 2008 – the volatility 7 of the price and so on – the [countries] have been limited in production. They are the largest importer of food from outside. So they discovered [themselves] very vulnerable to the [imports]. Consequently, most of the agricultural policy in some [countries] tends to increase the production inside --  the internal productivity -- because if you want more food, you need more water,” said Steduto.

斯特杜脱说：“鉴于2008年的粮食危机，物价上涨等因素，该地区很多国家都已经限制了当地粮食产量。他们是最大的粮食进口国，所以他们发现进口方面的弱势。因此，一些国家出台的大部分农业政策都是为了提升当地的产量—国内生产力，一旦你需要更多粮食，你就需要更多的水资源。”

The FAO said the Regional Water Scarcity Initiative aims to identify and streamline 8 policies in agriculture water management. It says these are policies “that can significantly contribute to boosting agriculture productivity, improving food security and sustaining water resources.”

联合国粮食和农业组织说地区水资源短缺倡议活动，旨在确定和简化农业用水管理方面的政策。这些将是十分有利于提高农产品产量，改善食物安全和保护水来源的政策

The initiative’s pilot project was launched last June in Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Oman, Tunisia and Yemen.

去年六月份，倡议活动在埃及，约旦，摩洛哥，阿曼，突尼斯和也门开始进行试点。

The FAO Regional Conference for the Near East and North Africa will be held in Rome from February 24th through the 28th.

联合国粮农组织——近东非和西非地区会议将于2月24号到28号在罗马举行。