VOA标准英语2008年-African Countries Move to Bio-Farming to Allevi

By Peter Heinlein
Addis Ababa
15 May 2008

Growing enough food to alleviate¹ shortages in African countries is not easy, but an agro-ecologist in Ethiopia thinks he has the answer: bio-farming.  The technique uses animal waste products to produce energy and fertilizer, which grows feed, that the animals eat, producing meat as well as new waste. The African Union recently endorsed² the concept, and countries such as Ethiopia, Mozambique, Mauritius and Kenya are already committed to big bio-farming projects. VOA's Pete Heinlein visited a model bio farm in Addis Ababa and has this report.

Giant kale, spectacular spinach³, beautiful beef, medicinal plants, fabulous⁴ flowers, and all at prices most African families can afford. A dream? Well, it is a dream Ethiopian agro-ecologist Getachew Tikubet had a few years back. And after a lot of trial and error, he has an elaborate, holistic⁵ plan. It starts with cow dung.

"This Jersey⁶ breed produces about 11 kilograms of dung and about 10 liters of urine per day," Getachew said.

Getachew says that dung and urine can provide all the fertilizer and energy needs for a family of eight, if the family puts them in a container called a biogas digester. The cost is nominal⁷.

"Within the digester, anaerobic⁸ fermentation takes place. As a result of the anaerobic fermentation, methane⁹ gas is produced, and this is one of the things that fascinate the farmers," he added. "They just can't believe this. Dung, urine being changed to this kind of flame."

But cooking gas is not the half of it. Getachew has demonstrated to 25,000 Ethiopian farmers how they can use the fertilizer from the biogas digester to produce enough food to feed themselves and have enough left over to take to market.  He says they understand.

Farmers immediately see that all the components¹⁰ are right at their fingertips, most at no cost.

"We have people, we have livestock¹¹. We have plants. We have the soil. We have insects and we have various organisms and solar energy as a component," Getachew says.

By combining western technology with local traditions, Getachew has persuaded Ethiopia, the African Union, and several American universities and donors¹² such as the World Bank that his idea works from the bottom up [by making farmers self-sufficient].

"So it starts from the soil. Some grow and the plants grow, some go to market. The produce -- some go back into the system, and then the animals take the feed, and the milk, meat again goes to the market. Their excreta goes back into the system. So by doing this, we complete the cycle," he adds.

The cycle begins again with a new generation. Getachew is planting seeds in farmers of the future at a school he operates at the bio farm. Children as young as five years-old learn not just lessons from books, but the concept of saving the land that they and their children will inherit.         

1 alleviate   

v.减轻，缓和，缓解(痛苦等)

参考例句：

• The doctor gave her an injection to alleviate the pain.医生给她注射以减轻疼痛。
• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。

2 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 spinach   

n.菠菜

参考例句：

• Eating spinach is supposed to make you strong.据说吃菠菜能使人强壮。
• You should eat such vegetables as carrot,celery and spinach.你应该吃胡萝卜、芹菜和菠菜这类的蔬菜。

4 fabulous   

adj.极好的；极为巨大的；寓言中的，传说中的

参考例句：

• We had a fabulous time at the party.我们在晚会上玩得很痛快。
• This is a fabulous sum of money.这是一笔巨款。

5 holistic   

adj.从整体着眼的，全面的

参考例句：

• There is a fundamental ambiguity in the use of word "whole" in recent holistic literature.在近代的整体主义著作中，“整体”这个词的用法极其含混。
• In so far as historicism is technological,its approach is not piecemeal,but "holistic".仅就历史决定论是一种技术而论，它的方法不是渐进的，而是“整体主义的”。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

7 nominal   

adj.名义上的；(金额、租金)微不足道的

参考例句：

• The king was only the nominal head of the state. 国王只是这个国家名义上的元首。
• The charge of the box lunch was nominal.午餐盒饭收费很少。

8 anaerobic   

adj.厌氧的

参考例句：

• Anaerobic respiration occurs only in particularly active tissues such as muscles during severe exercise. 厌氧呼吸只有在处于剧烈运动状态的肌肉等特别活跃的组织中才会发生。
• Infection,especially anaerobic infection, is much more apt to occur.感染，特别是厌氧感染很容易发生。

9 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

10 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

11 livestock   

n.家畜，牲畜

参考例句：

• Both men and livestock are flourishing.人畜两旺。
• The heavy rains and flooding killed scores of livestock.暴雨和大水淹死了许多牲口。

12 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》