2006年VOA标准英语-Famine Experts Say Niger Faces Another Dif

By Joe Bavier
Niamey
24 April 2006

Last year, widespread food shortages hit Niger, forcing a massive relief effort to save millions of people at risk of malnutrition¹. Now, nearly one year later, the lean period is approaching yet again, and many see another looming² crisis.

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It was not until the appearance of widespread media coverage³ of food shortages with scenes of starving children like those at the Maradis Doctors Without Borders feeding center that help began to arrive in Niger last year.

The landlocked country ranked the poorest in the world last year on the U.N. Human Development Index. 

An unidentified mother carry her malnurished child at the MSF feeding centre in Maradi, Niger (File photo)   
  
Drought and locust⁴ infestations⁵ caused a 10-percent drop in food output in 2005. And in a country where about 40-percent of children under five suffer from chronic⁶ malnutrition, that shortfall proved disastrous⁷.

At the height of the crisis, three-million people were at risk of starvation.

Abdoulaye Hima, the local chief in the village of Gogueize in western Niger, says even with the eventual⁸ emergency intervention⁹ by the government and donor¹⁰ countries, little aid arrived.

"In the end, we received five sacks of millet¹¹ and corn," he said. "And that was not free. Prices were lowered," he says, "but we still had to pay 10,000 francs, about $20 per sack. For a village like ours, with 115 families, it just was not enough."

Hima, like most in Niger, is used to famine. Shortages are an annual problem here. But this year, he is particularly worried.

"Last year was hard," he said. "Prices for millet went up. No one had any money. This year, with bird flu," he says, "we have not been able to sell our chickens to make any extra money. It could be even worse this year."

Many experts and aid workers are already seeing the follow-on effects of last year's crisis.

In order to survive, many families used credit to buy essential cereals to make it through the worst months. But that means much of this year's improved harvest went straight to creditors¹². And according to Niger's government, around one-point-eight million people are again at risk.

UNICEF's representative in Niger, Aboudou Adjibade says the situation is indicative of the structural¹³ problems, which keep the country from being able to feed its people.

"Where the epicenter of malnutrition resides is exactly where the food production is the best in this country," he said. "The granary of Niger is in Maradi region. It is in Maradi region at that time where the rate of malnutrition was the highest."

Adjibade says there was enough food last year, but it was sold at too high a price.

Many in Niger blame grain speculators from neighboring Nigeria, who came early in the harvest and bought up large stocks, only to sell them back to the same villagers when the crisis worsened and prices went up.

Some say that same phenomenon is occurring this year.

But even if there is a crisis, humanitarian¹⁴ organizations say they are better prepared. Emergency aid that in 2005 had to be airlifted into the country at great expense is already stocked in warehouses¹⁵ throughout the country.

But experts say, in many ways, Niger is still coming up short. The national food security mechanism¹⁶, a joint¹⁷ operation between the government and donor countries, has still received only about 60-percent funding for its 2006 budget.

Though more funding has been pledged, most of it will not arrive in time to help Niger through the lean period.

It is a situation that that is a constant source of frustration¹⁸ for Adjibade.

"Its always cheaper to invest in prevention," said Abjibade. "The case we were mentioning last year was so evident. When we were asking for $2 million at the beginning to prevent, and we did not get enough, at the end, the international donors¹⁹ paid $19 million to do the same thing."

Back in Gogueize, village chief Hima knows nothing of the international funding problems. But he is painfully aware of what his village will need if everyone is to survive the coming months.

"We just want real help," said Hima. "If the government could bring food in, we are not even asking to get it for free. If they could just lower the prices a little, we will buy it."

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• 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。

2 looming   

n.上现蜃景（光通过低层大气发生异常折射形成的一种海市蜃楼）v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的现在分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近

参考例句：

• The foothills were looming ahead through the haze. 丘陵地带透过薄雾朦胧地出现在眼前。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Then they looked up. Looming above them was Mount Proteome. 接着他们往上看，在其上隐约看到的是蛋白质组山。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望

3 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

4 locust   

n.蝗虫；洋槐，刺槐

参考例句：

• A locust is a kind of destructive insect.蝗虫是一种害虫。
• This illustration shows a vertical section through the locust.本图所示为蝗虫的纵剖面。

5 infestations   

n.（害虫、盗贼等）群袭，出没，横行( infestation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The arrival of warm weather raises the specter of disease and increased rat infestations caused by rotting garbage. 天气转暖使人们担心垃圾腐烂会引起疾病传播和鼠群猖獗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Piperazine citrate is the drug of choice in the treatment of Ascaris infestations. 枸橼酸哌嗪治疗蛔虫感染是最好的药物。 来自辞典例句

6 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

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 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

11 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

12 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

14 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

15 warehouses   

仓库，货栈( warehouse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The whisky was taken to bonded warehouses at Port Dundee. 威士忌酒已送到邓迪港的保稅仓库。
• Row upon row of newly built warehouses line the waterfront. 江岸新建的仓库鳞次栉比。

16 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

17 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

18 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

19 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》