VOA常速英语2007-UN Calls for Renewed Effort to End Hunger

By Sabina Castelfranco
Rome
16 October 2007

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization is calling for a renewed commitment to guarantee the right to food for the 850 million hungry people in the world.  A ceremony was held at FAO headquarters in Rome to mark World Food Day 2007.  Sabina Castelfranco reports from Rome.

The Right to Food is this year's theme for World Food Day, which is celebrated¹ every year in 150 countries.  During a ceremony at FAO headquarters in Rome, U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization Director General Jacques Diouf said 854 million people still go to sleep on an empty stomach, despite the fact our planet produces enough food to feed its entire population.

The president of Germany, Horst Köhler, said that hunger is not an inescapable destiny, but can be eliminated by wise policies.  He added that this requires that governments of developing countries make food security a priority.

The president of Tanzania, Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, also addressed international delegates gathered for the ceremony.

"The scourge² of hunger lingers on," Kikwete said. "There are little signs of receding³.  Instead hunger seems to be on the ascendancy⁴.  Estimates of this organization show that more than 850 million people in the world still live in a state of serious and permanent undernourishment.  Sub-Saharan Africa alone has 206 million people.  This is also almost a quarter of the continent's population."

President Kikwete said that at current trends the 2015 target of halving⁵ the number of hungry people in the world seems unlikely to be achieved unless efforts are redoubled at national and international level.

"Nearly 40,000 children die every day throughout the world due to malnutrition⁶ and related diseases," Kikwete said. "These are the people who have been denied the right to food.  These are the very people who are the subject of this year's World Food Day."

President Kikwete said there is enough food being produced globally to feed everyone and ideally no one should die of hunger in the world we live in.  For Africa and the developing world, he added, the ultimate solution to chronic⁷ hunger does not lie with food aid alone, but with the improvement of agriculture.

"Agriculture is central to livelihood⁸ of the people in Africa.  About 70 percent of the people in sub-Saharan Africa live in the rural areas and depend on agriculture for their livelihood," Kikwete said. "Agriculture contributes 30 percent of the GDP and 40 percent of the export earnings⁹ of the economies of sub-Saharan Africa."

Mr. Kikwete said that if African agricultural problems are resolved, there would be no more hunger in the continent.  

1 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

2 scourge   

n.灾难，祸害；v.蹂躏

参考例句：

• Smallpox was once the scourge of the world.天花曾是世界的大患。
• The new boss was the scourge of the inefficient.新老板来了以后，不称职的人就遭殃了。

3 receding   

v.逐渐远离( recede的现在分词 )；向后倾斜；自原处后退或避开别人的注视；尤指问题

参考例句：

• Desperately he struck out after the receding lights of the yacht. 游艇的灯光渐去渐远，他拼命划水追赶。 来自辞典例句
• Sounds produced by vehicles receding from us seem lower-pitched than usual. 渐渐远离我们的运载工具发出的声似乎比平常的音调低。 来自辞典例句

4 ascendancy   

n.统治权，支配力量

参考例句：

• We have had ascendancy over the enemy in the battle.在战斗中我们已占有优势。
• The extremists are gaining ascendancy.极端分子正逐渐占据上风。

5 halving   

n.对分，二等分，减半[航空、航海]等分v.把…分成两半( halve的现在分词 )；把…减半；对分；平摊

参考例句：

• You searched those halving your salary cut your enthusiasm. 你呈现，薪水减半降低了你的任务热情。 来自互联网
• Halving the repeater spacing made it possible to quadruple the bandwidth. 把增音机间隔缩小一半，就能使带宽增加三倍。 来自互联网

6 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。

7 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。

8 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

9 earnings   

n.工资收人；利润，利益，所得

参考例句：

• That old man lives on the earnings of his daughter.那个老人靠他女儿的收入维持生活。
• Last year there was a 20% decrease in his earnings.去年他的收入减少了20%。