VOA新闻杂志--食品价格上涨限制了塞内加尔的斋月传统

Rising Food Costs Limit Ramadan Traditions in Senegal

Rising food prices, border closures and the war in Ukraine have caused many Muslim families in Senegal to feel the pressure of inflation¹ during this special month of Ramadan.

Astou Mandiang is 64 years old, and she sells porridge by the road. When she and her family met for their first meal of the day, after the sun went down, there was no meat on the table.

"At the market there is a lack of food," said Mandiang, while she fixed² dinner in her kitchen without electricity.

Food prices in West Africa have increased 20 to 30 percent since 2017 because of the lack of farm workers, dry conditions and various conflicts³. The pandemic has hurt supply chains because of borders closing.

And recently, the war in Ukraine caused even more pressure on Muslim families. They cannot replace food supplies for visiting family, neighbors, or people in need.

"Prices have soared⁴, and we return home without knowing what to cook. When (they) give us change, we think they made a mistake. They tell us the price has risen, and there is nothing we can do," Mandiang said.

Mandiang only has enough money to buy fish because it is less costly⁵ than meat. Fish is available because Senegal is by the ocean. She is thankful that she bought enough onions before the price increased during Ramadan.

Most traditional food in Senegal, like onions and rice, are bought from other countries. Rice is 10 percent more costly, and cooking oil has risen 50 percent more.

Mamadou Diop is a representative⁶ from a charity⁷, Action Against Hunger, in Senegal. He said that the charity depends on outside resources⁸ for help in feeding people.

Diop also said that the price of beef has increased in Senegal. This is because Mali, a neighboring country, cannot sell their meat to other countries because of economic punishments for having had a military⁹ overthrow¹⁰.

Charities¹¹ are also struggling to help families. Astou Ndour is a charity worker, and she said her organization could only help 80 families this year, not the previous 90 families from last year.

Words in This Story

porridge – n. hot cereal¹² typically eaten at breakfast

soared – v. in increase greatly in height or to fly

change – n. coins used for money

charity –n. organizations that help people with food or housing

1 inflation   

n.胀大，夸张，通货膨胀

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• The inflation of the airbed took several minutes.给空气床垫充气花了几分钟时间。

2 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。

3 conflicts   

冲突( conflict的名词复数 )； 战斗； 相互干扰； 矛盾

参考例句：

• Conflicts among the various groups do not augur well for the future of the peace talks. 各派之间的冲突对和平谈判不是一个好兆头。
• Such was the ideal; the occasional conflicts were due to human imperfection. 这样的分工是完美的，偶尔的冲突是人类的缺点所致。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

4 soared   

v.高飞( soar的过去式和过去分词 )；猛增；（音乐）升高；高耸

参考例句：

• The bird soared high, with outspread wings. 鸟儿展翅高飞。
• The rocket soared skywards. 火箭呼啸着朝天上飞去。

5 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

6 representative   

n.代表，众议员，典型；adj.描写的，表现的，代理的，代表性的，代议制的，典型的

参考例句：

• He is a representative for a large steel company.他是一家大型钢铁公司的代理人。
• We have a representative sample.我们有一个代表性的样品。

7 charity   

n.慈悲，博爱，慈善团体，施舍

参考例句：

• He founded the charity in memory of his late wife.他兴办那个慈善机构以纪念他已故的妻子。
• He gave a handsome sum of money to charity.他向慈善团体捐了一笔相当可观的钱款。

8 resources   

n.勇气；才智；谋略；有助于实现目标的东西；资源( resource的名词复数 )；[复数]物力；办法；来源

参考例句：

• The world's resources are rapidly diminishing. 世界资源正在迅速减少。
• a policy to equalize the distribution of resources throughout the country 使资源在全国分布均衡的政策

9 military   

n.军队；adj.军事的，军人的，好战的

参考例句：

• The area has been declared a closed military zone.这个地区已宣布为军事禁区。
• The king was just the tool of the military government.国王只是军政府的一个傀儡。

10 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

11 charities   

n.慈爱( charity的名词复数 )；救济金；慈善团体；宽厚

参考例句：

• Many charities sent money to help the victims of the famine. 许多慈善机构捐款赈济饥民。
• Certain charities are exempt from VAT registration. 某些慈善机构无须进行增值税登记。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 cereal   

n.谷类，五谷，禾谷

参考例句：

• I have hot cereal every day for breakfast.我每天早餐吃热麦片粥。
• Soybeans are handled differently from cereal grains.大豆的加工处理与谷类的加工处理不同。