朝鲜可能面临食物短缺

AS IT IS 2015-06-25 North Korea Could Face Food Shortage 朝鲜可能面临食物短缺

North Korea could face more food shortages later this year if a drought continues.  That is what the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said last week. A drought means a serious lack of rain, which makes it difficult to grow crops.

“The lack of water now could seriously affect the main crop season later this year," according to WFP’s communications officer Zoie Jones. She wrote to the VOA Korean Service in an email.

Her organization is concerned about children getting enough to eat. She added, "There will be a significant increase in malnutrition¹ especially among children.”

The WFP warning came one day after the North Korean state media reported on the country’s drought conditions. The official Korean Central News Agency called it “The worst drought in 100 years… causing great damage to its [North Korea's] agricultural fields.”

A famine in the 1990s killed an estimated one million people in North Korea. In May, the U.N. reported the number of hungry people in North Korea has more than doubled in the last two decades. The number rose to 10.5 million in 2014, up from 4.8 million in 1990.

The WFP’s Ms. Jones said her agency is ready to give the North aid if the situation gets worse. She said the WFP is “closely monitoring” the situation and “is ready to assist,” if needed.

The U.N. food agency will continue the current humanitarian² work in North Korea. The work was supposed to end in June. The agency needs $28 million to continue its work until the end of the year.

However, she said, “If the dry spell causes a spike³ in malnutrition then the funding situation will become even more critical."

Also last week, China said it would help its neighbor and ally. “China is willing to provide the aid that is needed by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” a spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry⁴, told reporters.

The United States, however, said it has no plans to provide humanitarian aid to the North.

“The United States remains⁵ deeply concerned about the well-being⁶ of the North Korean people,” said a State Department spokesman. “The United States has no plans to provide humanitarian assistance to North Korea at this time, nor has North Korea requested U.S. assistance.”

Words in This Story

drought – n. a long period of time when there is very little or no rain

famine –n. a situation in which many people do not have enough food to eat

spike –n. a sudden, rapid increase in something

malnutrition –n. unhealthy condition from not getting enough to eat

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

3 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

4 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。