VOA标准英语2013--IFPRI Calls for Greater Action to End Hunger

 

IFPRI Calls for Greater Action to End Hunger

A food policy organization says there’s been a lot of talk about fighting hunger, but too little action. IFPRI (IF-pree), the International Food Policy Research Institute, says progress has been piecemeal¹, at best.

IFPRI says world food security remained at risk last year with 870-million people listed as hungry and two-billion as being deficient² in micronutrients. It’s making recommendations to help speed progress in a new report called Walk the Talk.

IFPRI Director General Shenggen Fan described 2012 as a “mixed year” for progress against hunger.

“On the one hand we do see some positive developments, particularly at the country level. African countries, India, China, Brazil continue to commit themselves to increase investment in Agriculture, in agricultural research -- to really increase their agricultural productivity at a global level. Donor³ agencies, the World Bank, USAID, have also increased their investment in agriculture, in food security and nutrition.”

But he said THAT 2012 also saw plenty of talk with little follow through.

“In 2012, we had lots of debates, discussions, conferences without a clear roadmap – without a clear, actual plan to implement,” he said.

Fan said that a lack of political will means that food security did not progress as far as it should have last year. Also, following the food crisis in 2008 and 2009, many promises were made to increase investment in smallholder agriculture. Small farms, many headed by women, were described as a key element in reducing hunger and ensuring food security.

Many countries have made progress in supporting smallholders. However, many other countries have also failed in doing that in providing very much needed smallholder technologies, smallholder market access, smallholder inputs⁴ to help them to increase their production, to improve their income and eventually to diversify⁵ their livelihoods⁶ away from agriculture.

The IFPRI chief issued a statement saying that “on its current trajectory⁷ of tepid⁸ promises and unfulfilled commitments, the international community will fall far short of the Millennium⁹ Development Goal of halving¹⁰ the number of people who suffer from hunger by 2015.”

Supporters of greater agricultural investment in poor countries have often criticized the use of subsidies¹¹ by rich nations. They say it puts developing countries at a disadvantage in producing and selling their goods. Now, countries such as India and China, with their booming economies, are also opting¹² for subsidies.

“Well, this has been a trend, but it’s not necessarily the right trend. So we need to change that trend. When poorer countries or middle income countries move to a higher level income status, they should try to think very hard why they should follow the more advanced countries,” said Fan.

He said that 2013 is a critical year to both the review the progress of the Millennium Development Goals and set new development goals for post 2015.

“Hungry people, poor people, must be on the top of the post 2015 agenda. And clearly, the whole economy, including agricultural production, food production, has to be sustainable in the long run by using less water and less land and less energy or use them more efficiently¹³.”

IFPRI’S director general said ending hunger would have implications far beyond nutritional¹⁴ concerns.

“The global community will be more peaceful; probably will be more prosperous because if people don’t worry about the food they have the energy to think something else to improve other dimensions of their life. And if people have food to eat, they are less violent,” he said.

There’s no excuse, said Fan, for anyone to go to bed hungry, adding it’s time the international community walked the talk on food security.

1 piecemeal   

adj.零碎的；n.片，块；adv.逐渐地；v.弄成碎块

参考例句：

• A lack of narrative drive leaves the reader with piecemeal vignettes.叙述缺乏吸引力，读者读到的只是一些支离破碎的片段。
• Let's settle the matter at one stroke,not piecemeal.把这事一气儿解决了吧，别零敲碎打了。

2 deficient   

adj.不足的，不充份的，有缺陷的

参考例句：

• The crops are suffering from deficient rain.庄稼因雨量不足而遭受损害。
• I always have been deficient in selfconfidence and decision.我向来缺乏自信和果断。

3 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。

4 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

5 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

6 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

7 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

8 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

9 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

10 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

11 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 opting   

v.选择，挑选( opt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• What courses are most students opting for? 多数学生选什么课程？ 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Wells doesn't rule out opting out and then re-signing with Houston. 威尔斯没有排除跳出合同再与火箭重签的可能。 来自互联网

13 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

14 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。