VOA慢速英语2012--农业报道 - 非洲大投资者和小农户之间的不公平交易

Agriculture Report - Big Investors¹, Small Farmers in Africa: a Fair Deal?

农业报道 - 非洲大投资者和小农户之间的不公平交易
This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
Foreign investment in African land is growing. Countries like China, Saudi Arabia and South Korea are leasing or buying millions of hectares to grow food for their people.
对非洲土地的外商投资持续增加。中国、沙特和韩国等国家租赁或购买了数百万公顷土地为本国人民种植粮食。
Research shows that many large land deals lack protections for small farmers. Contracts may guarantee leases for up to ninety-nine years, leaving local people without land for generations.
研究表明，多数大型土地交易缺乏对小农户的保护。合同可能担保了长达99年的租赁期，使得当地人一连数代人都没有自己的土地。
Better practices balance exports with local food needs and give farmers ways to enforce promises by investors. They also make clear what kinds of jobs and how many jobs will be created. Smallholders can gain influence if they form cooperatives or unions or have the support of nongovernmental organizations.
更好的做法平衡了出口和当地粮食需求，并给了农民执行投资者承诺的途径。他们也弄清楚了这会创造什么类型的工作，会有多少工作。如果组成合作社、工会，或者有非政府组织的帮助，小农户就能获得影响力。
There are different business models for cooperation between investors and local farmers. Lorenzo Cotula is a senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development in London. One popular method, says Mr. Cotula, is contract farming.
在投资者和当地农民的合作中有几种不同的商业模式。Lorenzo Cotula是伦敦国际环境与发展研究所一名高级研究员。Cotula先生说一种常见模式是订单农业。
LORENZO COTULA: "Contract farming has been around for a very long time and which essentially² involves a company providing credit, inputs³ like seeds and fertilizers and training and all that, and then buying produce from the farmers at a fixed⁴ price when harvest time comes."
LORENZO COTULA：“订单农业已经存在很长一段时间，它主要包括公司提供信贷，以及种子、化肥和培训等投入，然后在收获季节以固定价格收购农民的产品。”
Companies usually deduct⁵ the cost of the inputs from the final purchase price. He says contract farming represents up to sixty percent of tea and sugar farming in Kenya and one hundred percent of cotton farming in Mozambique.
公司通常会从最终收购价格中扣除成本。他说，订单农业代表了肯尼亚高达60%的茶叶和蔗糖种植，以及莫桑比克100%的棉花种植。
Contract farming may give farmers more access to markets for high-value crops. But Mr. Cotula found that contracts often go to wealthier farmers. Poorer farmers often work as labor⁶ on the contracted farms.
订单农业能给农民提供更多进入高价值农作物市场的途径。但Cotula先生表示，订单通常给了富农。贫农通常都在承包农场中担任劳动力。
The price that companies pay to farmers may be low, and companies might not honor purchase agreements when market conditions change.
公司支付给农民的价格可能会很低，而且当市场情况发生变化时，公司可能不会履行收购协议。
Also, growers may go into debt when the company deducts⁷ payments for inputs from the final purchase price.
此外，当公司从最终收购价扣除成本时，种植户可能会陷入债务。
Another business model is a joint⁸ venture. Lorenzo Cotula says an equity⁹ stake, or share of ownership, in a business can give communities a voice in decision-making. It can also provide income in the form of dividend¹⁰ payments.
另一种商业模式是合资企业。Cotula说，企业股权能够为民众提供参与决策的机会，还能提供股息形式的收入。
But a practice called "transfer pricing" can make those dividends¹¹ disappear. Prices are inflated¹² or deflated¹³ in deals with companies linked to the partner in the joint-venture. This practice reduces profits for the joint-venture company and dividends for smallholder partners.
但一种被称为“转让定价”的做法会使股息消失。在与合资企业合作者相关联公司的交易中价格会虚高。这种做法降低了合资公司的利润，以及给小农户合作者的股息。
As a solution, contracts may require fair market prices for sales to partners.
作为一种解决方案，向合作者销售时，合同需要有一个公平的市场价格。
And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Jim Tedder¹⁴.
___
Contributing: William Eagle

1 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 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

4 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

5 deduct   

vt.扣除，减去

参考例句：

• You can deduct the twenty - five cents out of my allowance.你可在我的零用钱里扣去二角五分钱。
• On condition of your signing this contract,I will deduct a percentage.如果你在这份合同上签字，我就会给你减免一个百分比。

6 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

7 deducts   

v.扣除，减去( deduct的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• At the time negotiation, the local bank deducts the loan and the interest. 议付时，当地银行扣除先前的贷款和利息。 来自辞典例句
• After commissariat is sold, cooperation deducts cost, return money to every farmer. 在粮食销售之后，合作社扣除成本，把钱退还给每个农户。 来自互联网

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

10 dividend   

n.红利，股息；回报，效益

参考例句：

• The company was forced to pass its dividend.该公司被迫到期不分红。
• The first quarter dividend has been increased by nearly 4 per cent.第一季度的股息增长了近 4%。

11 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。

12 inflated   

adj.（价格）飞涨的；（通货）膨胀的；言过其实的；充了气的v.使充气（于轮胎、气球等）( inflate的过去式和过去分词 )；（使）膨胀；（使）通货膨胀；物价上涨

参考例句：

• He has an inflated sense of his own importance. 他自视过高。
• They all seem to take an inflated view of their collective identity. 他们对自己的集体身份似乎都持有一种夸大的看法。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 deflated   

adj. 灰心丧气的

参考例句：

• I was quite deflated by her lack of interest in my suggestions.他对我的建议兴趣不大，令我感到十分气馁。
• He was deflated by the news.这消息令他泄气。

14 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网