美国国家公共电台 NPR Erratic Weather Threatens Livelihood Of Rice Farmers In Madagascar

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

In Madagascar, rice is often served for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Not only is it a staple¹ of the local diet, it's also one of the primary crops grown across the island. But erratic² rains are disrupting rice production on the island nation off the southeast coast of Africa. Our Jason Beaubien spent time with rice farmers as NPR looks at the effects of climate change around the world.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUD SLOSHING)

JASON BEAUBIEN, BYLINE³: Jeanpier Marolahy is in the middle of planting his next crop of rice. Ankle-deep in the mud of a rice paddy, Marolahy stabs a shovel⁴ into the soil, just inches in front of his bare toes. He wiggles the shovel to make a gap in the mucky earth, pushes in a rice seedling⁵ and then moves further down the row.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUD SLOSHING)

BEAUBIEN: Rice production is all about water and timing⁶. It needs a lot of water at first; but if torrential rains fall at harvest time, they can destroy the crop. The 56-year-old Marolahy has been growing rice all his life on the steep hills that slope down from Madagascar's central highlands towards the Indian Ocean. He says for years, the wet and dry seasons arrived here in a relatively⁷ predictable pattern. But now, that's no longer the case.

JEANPIER MAROLAHY: (Speaking Malagasy).

BEAUBIEN: He says when he was a boy, there might be one cyclone⁸ every five years. Now, he says, his fields can get hit by five major storms in one year. Making things worse, last year, there was an extended drought in what is usually the wet summer. Marolahy has two small rice paddies in a narrow valley just outside the Ranomafana National Park. He also has two smaller plots of rice and vegetables terraced into an adjacent hillside. These four fields are his only source of income for his family.

MAROLAHY: (Speaking Malagasy).

BEAUBIEN: "This year," he says, "the rains have been steady, but it's been abnormally cold," which is slowing the growth of his seedlings⁹. At night, he covers them with banana leaves to try to keep them warm.

Marolahy isn't just engaging in that storied tradition of farmers complaining about the weather. Climate scientists say weather patterns are becoming more unpredictable. Researchers tracking the temperatures here say the highs and lows have become far more extreme over the last two decades.

CELIA HARVEY: In the study that we did, we found that farmers are experiencing very variable rainfall and very variable crop production.

BEAUBIEN: Celia Harvey with Conservation International was looking at how changing climatic conditions are affecting 600 small-scale farmers in Madagascar. And the study found that farmers in Madagascar are ill-prepared to deal with climate change.

HARVEY: They have large families. They have very small areas of land. They're very poor. They lack access to basic services. They're really living on the edge in many ways, so they depend almost entirely¹⁰ on rice production for both their food security and for income generation. So anything that affects their rice production ultimately very quickly undermines their livelihood¹¹.

BEAUBIEN: According to the World Bank, three quarters of the population of Madagascar lives in poverty. Most of them survive by growing most of their own food. In Madagascar, these small farms are particularly vulnerable to tropical cyclones¹². The island is as long from tip to toe as Texas. It's long east coastline faces straight out at the Indian Ocean. Climate researchers predict that with rising ocean temperatures, more powerful and more frequent tropical storms will buffet¹³ Madagascar.

HARVEY: Madagascar is one of those countries that's very exposed to cyclones. And when cyclones come through, farmers typically lose most of their rice crop.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER FLOWING)

BEAUBIEN: Back in his rice field, Marolahy says he has few options on how to deal with this new, more erratic weather. He can't just move somewhere else or find another job. His plan to deal with the fluctuations¹⁴ in his rice yields is to double down.

MAROLAHY: (Speaking Malagasy).

BEAUBIEN: Later this year, he plans to burn the bushes off of a hillside above his rice paddies and try planting it with cassava and beans.

(SOUNDBITE OF DUCKS QUACKING)

BEAUBIEN: Not far from Marolahy's field, another family of rice farmers is also diversifying¹⁵. Perline Ramaniandaibe and her two daughters are panning for gold. They're ankle-deep in a small stream that serves as both the sewer¹⁶ and the spring for the village of Kelilalina.

(SOUNDBITE OF WATER SPLASHING)

BEAUBIEN: She says, some days, they don't find any gold. But others, they find a few flecks¹⁷ of the precious metal. And they use the gold to support their rice farm.

PERLINE RAMANIANDAIBE: (Through interpreter) We don't have any other way to make money, only this, this gold.

BEAUBIEN: One of the benefits of panning for gold, Ramaniandaibe says, is that when flooding makes it impossible to work in their fields, the rising water cuts into the hillsides, exposing soil that potentially could have gold in it. Obviously, ripping up agricultural land to search for gold is a problem over the long term. But she says, at least it can bring in some cash when crops fail. And there may be another silver lining¹⁸ to climate change for some parts of Madagascar. While researchers say storms and erratic rainfall will make it harder to grow rice here in the eastern part of the island, rising temperatures could boost rice production in the central highlands of the country.

Jason Beaubien, NPR News.

1 staple   

n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类

参考例句：

• Tea is the staple crop here.本地产品以茶叶为大宗。
• Potatoes are the staple of their diet.土豆是他们的主要食品。

2 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。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 shovel   

n.铁锨，铲子，一铲之量；v.铲，铲出

参考例句：

• He was working with a pick and shovel.他在用镐和铲干活。
• He seized a shovel and set to.他拿起一把铲就干上了。

5 seedling   

n.秧苗，树苗

参考例句：

• She cut down the seedling with one chop.她一刀就把小苗砍倒了。
• The seedling are coming up full and green.苗长得茁壮碧绿。

6 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 cyclone   

n.旋风，龙卷风

参考例句：

• An exceptionally violent cyclone hit the town last night.昨晚异常猛烈的旋风吹袭了那个小镇。
• The cyclone brought misery to thousands of people.旋风给成千上万的人带来苦难。

9 seedlings   

n.刚出芽的幼苗( seedling的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Ninety-five per cent of the new seedlings have survived. 新栽的树苗95%都已成活。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• In such wet weather we must prevent the seedlings from rotting. 这样的阴雨天要防止烂秧。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 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。

12 cyclones   

n.气旋( cyclone的名词复数 )；旋风；飓风；暴风

参考例句：

• The pricipal objective in designing cyclones is to create a vortex. 设计旋风除尘器的主要目的在于造成涡旋运动。 来自辞典例句
• Middle-latitude cyclones originate at the popar front. 中纬度地区的气旋发源于极锋。 来自辞典例句

13 buffet   

n.自助餐；饮食柜台；餐台

参考例句：

• Are you having a sit-down meal or a buffet at the wedding?你想在婚礼中摆桌宴还是搞自助餐？
• Could you tell me what specialties you have for the buffet?你能告诉我你们的自助餐有什么特色菜吗？

14 fluctuations   

波动，涨落，起伏( fluctuation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He showed the price fluctuations in a statistical table. 他用统计表显示价格的波动。
• There were so many unpredictable fluctuations on the Stock Exchange. 股票市场瞬息万变。

15 diversifying   

v.使多样化，多样化( diversify的现在分词 )；进入新的商业领域

参考例句：

• Some publishers are now diversifying into software. 有些出版社目前正兼营软件。 来自辞典例句
• Silverlit is diversifying into new markets, such as Russia and Eastern Europe. Silverlit正在使他们的市场变得多样化，开发新的市场如俄罗斯和东欧国家。 来自互联网

16 sewer   

n.排水沟，下水道

参考例句：

• They are tearing up the street to repair a sewer. 他们正挖开马路修下水道。
• The boy kicked a stone into the sewer. 那个男孩把一石子踢进了下水道。

17 flecks   

n.斑点，小点( fleck的名词复数 )；癍

参考例句：

• His hair was dark, with flecks of grey. 他的黑发间有缕缕银丝。
• I got a few flecks of paint on the window when I was painting the frames. 我在漆窗框时，在窗户上洒了几点油漆。 来自《简明英汉词典》

18 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。