This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
Food prices continue to rise, threatening to push more people into poverty and hunger. Experts have been urging increased efforts around the world to increase agricultural productivity. A new report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization says one of the best ways would be to remove the barriers women farmers face that male farmers do not.
世界粮食价格继续上涨，可能使更多人陷入贫困和饥饿之中。专家们一直呼吁全球继续努力提高农业生产力。联合国粮农组织一份最新的报告称，最好的办法之一就是消除女性农民单独面临的一些障碍。
Women farmers are often less productive than men, but there are good reasons for that, says Agnes Quisumbing. She is an economist with the International Food Policy Research Institute. She says women farmers have fewer resources than male farmers.
女性农民生产力通常低于男性，但艾格尼丝·基松宾（Agnes Quisumbing）表示，这是有原因的。基松宾是国际粮食政策研究所的经济学家。她说，女性农民拥有的资源比男性更少。
The new FAO report says women make up forty-three percent of the world's farmers. But only about ten to twenty percent of them own the land they farm. Without owning land, it is harder for them to get credit to buy inputs such as better seeds and fertilizers. In many countries, women are half as likely as men to use fertilizers to increase the amount of crops.
联合国粮农组织的这份新的报告称，女性占到了全球农民比例的43%，但其中只有10%~20%的女性拥有她们耕作的土地。没有土地，他们就很难获得贷款用于种子和化肥一类的生产投入。在很多国家，只有一半的女性农民有条件像男性一样，使用化肥来提高作物产量。
In addition, Ms. Quisumbing says many of the world's women are raising their children at the same time they are farming.
基松宾女士表示，此外，世界上许多女性农民在耕作的同时还要抚养孩子。
The FAO report says helping women farmers could increase agricultural output in the developing world by as much as four percent. This in turn could reduce the number of undernourished people by as much as seventeen percent.
粮农组织的报告称，帮助女性农民可以使发展中国家农业产量提升4%。这反过来又可以减少17%的营养不良人口。
AGNES QUISUMBING: "Just helping women farmers have the same access to inputs and control of resources that male farmers have would really do a lot in terms of improving agriculture productivity, reducing hunger and malnutrition."
基松宾：“只要帮助女性农民拥有和男性同等的投入和资源，就能在提高农业生产力，减少饥饿和营养不良人口方面获益良多。”
Ms. Quisumbing helped write the FAO report. She says the report does not try to gain sympathy. It makes the case for women farmers based on business reasons.
基松宾女士帮助撰写了粮农组织的这份报告。她表示，报告并没有试图博取同情，它只是基于商业角度谈到了女性农民的情况。
AGNES QUISUMBING: "We hear a lot about how women are disadvantaged. And they tend to be very bleeding-heart arguments. But bleeding-heart arguments don't necessarily tell heads of state to move their money."
基松宾：“我们经常听到有关女性如何弱势，这些说法往往极富同情心。但它并不能说服国家领导人对此进行投入。”
She says governments should support programs that help women farmers. These include financial support to help them buy better seeds and fertilizers. But she says policies in many countries also need to change.
她表示，政府应该支持帮助女性农民的项目。这包括帮助她们购买更好的种子和化肥的财政支持。但她表示，许多国家的政策也需要调整。
She says many laws discriminate against women in the areas of property, labor force and marriage. Ms. Quisumbing says studies show that women are more likely than men to spend money on food, health and educating their children. And that means a better future for the next generation.
她说，很多国家的法律在财产、劳动力、婚姻方面都歧视女性。基松宾女士称，研究表明，女性比男性更愿意花钱在食物、健康和教育子女上。而这些意味着下一代更好的未来。
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