VOA标准英语2012--WFP: Sahel in Urgent Need of Aid

 

WFP: Sahel in Urgent Need of Aid

The U.N. World Food Program said time is running out to prevent the full impact of the food crisis in Africa’s Sahel region. It said a donor¹ funding shortfall of hundreds of millions of dollars could soon affect emergency aid programs.

WFP West Africa spokesman Malik Triki said food crises in the Sahel have become more frequent in recent years – but not like this.

“This current food crisis in the Sahel is one of the most complex and widest reaching food crises to hit the Sahel of West Africa in living memory. Whereas the 2005 and 2010 food crises hit mainly two countries – in Niger and Chad – this current crisis has hit in no less than 8 countries from Mauritania all the way to Chad,” he said.

Desperation in Niger

“I’ve been to areas where some communities are reduced to eating wild plants, wild berries. Things that normally animals would eat. And they have no other way of feeding themselves and their children. So you could say that technically² in certain parts of the Sahel people are desperate and have nothing, literally³ nothing, left to eat, but wild leaves,” Triki said.

The World Food Program estimates up to 15 million people are affected⁴. But reaching them with food aid can be difficult.

“Many of the countries are landlocked countries,” he said, “So the ability to move food in time to the people who need it most is constrained⁵ by the fact that we cannot move it as quickly as we hope for. We need something between 3 months and 4 months as a lead time to move the food. So what we do is to preposition the food closer to the areas where the people need it most.”

And It’s a very expensive humanitarian⁶ operation.

“This operation costs at least $790 million. And we still have a shortfall of around $360 million. Obviously, many, many countries and many donors⁷ have come forward and helped us, but we still have that shortfall. And we urgently need more donors to come forward to help us plug that shortfall,” he said.

The crisis is blamed on a number of factors – a lack of investment in agriculture, a rapidly growing population and climate change, which has brought drought and floods, as well as erratic⁸ seasonal⁹ rains.

Fleeing conflict

Conflict adds to the problem. Triki says fighting in northern Mali has created a refugee crisis to go along with the food crisis.

“There are at least 160,000 Malians who fled their country into neighboring countries like Niger, Burkina Faso and Mauritania. And a further 200,000 Malians have been displaced within their own country. And those figures are expected to increase. When these Malians leave their own country and seek refuge into other countries, they are hosted by communities in Niger, Burkina [Faso], Mauritania, who are vulnerable themselves – who themselves are finding it very hard to cope,” he said.

Triki described humanitarian efforts as a race against time. He says millions of children and pregnant women are at risk of malnutrition¹⁰. He warned if the situation worsens, many of them could die. The WFP began sounding the alarm about the Sahel last October.

1 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。

2 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

3 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• 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。

5 constrained   

adj.束缚的,节制的

参考例句：

• The evidence was so compelling that he felt constrained to accept it. 证据是那样的令人折服，他觉得不得不接受。
• I feel constrained to write and ask for your forgiveness. 我不得不写信请你原谅。

6 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。

7 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》

8 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

9 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

10 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。