VOA慢速英语-Agriculture Report - World Gets a Call to Raise Food

A U.N. meeting on the food inflation crisis ends with an agreement to invest more in agriculture, but no settlement on biofuels. Transcript¹ of radio broadcast:
09 June 2008

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A United Nations conference on rising food prices ended with an agreement to invest more in agriculture.
　

Ban Ki-moon speaks last Tuesday at the opening of the United Nations food summit in Rome

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said food production needs to increase fifty percent by two thousand thirty to meet rising demand. The cost, he said, could top fifteen to twenty billion dollars a year over a number of years.

About one hundred eighty countries were represented at the three-day summit meeting last week in Rome. The final declaration called for immediate² support for agricultural production, including seeds, fertilizer and other supplies. It also urged countries to reduce agricultural trade barriers.

The delegates nearly failed to reach a final agreement. There were objections from Latin America on trade-related issues.

The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization says agriculture is the main support for seventy percent of the world's poor. Yet, the F.A.O. says, aid to agriculture fell almost sixty percent from nineteen eighty-four to two thousand four.

In nineteen eighty, seventeen percent of official development assistance went to agriculture. By two thousand six that share was three percent.

The meeting in Rome was officially called the High-Level Conference on World Food Security: the Challenges of Climate Change and Bioenergy. Using food crops to make fuel was a major point of debate. In the end, Jacques Diouf, head of the F.A.O., said differences of opinion about biofuels were too wide to settle.

Some countries called for international guidelines on production. But the final declaration called only for in-depth study to make sure biofuels do not threaten food security.

The European Union and the United States both support biofuels. Before the conference, American Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said biofuels play only a small part in higher food prices. He said other causes include rising energy prices and poor harvests in major grain-producing countries. He also noted³ increased restrictions⁴ on food exports.

High food prices have increased hunger and poverty and produced rioting in some countries. In addition to short-term measures, countries are being urged to think of longer-lasting answers to feed a growing world.

The final declaration said eight hundred sixty-two million people are still undernourished in the world today. And it noted that food prices are expected to remain high in the years to come.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. I’m Bob Doughty⁵.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。