Coffee

 

Broadcast: Jan 14, 2003
By Mario Ritter

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

World coffee prices have dropped by almost fifty percent over the last three years. They are at their lowest level in thirty years. Low prices are affecting about twenty-five-million coffee growers. Most of them have small farms.

Coffee is an important crop for the developing economies of Latin¹ America, central Africa and southeast Asia. However, the international aid organization Oxfam says that coffee growers are getting less for their crop even as the world market has grown. Oxfam says producers receive less than ten percent of the income created in the world coffee market.

World coffee production has grown by about two-hundred percent since nineteen-fifty. New growing methods have caused part of this increase. Farmers have traditionally grown coffee under the cover of trees, often fruit trees. Trees protect the coffee plants from too much sun and provide fertilizer1. Fruit trees also can provide another crop for coffee farms.

However, the introduction of chemical fertilizers² and more productive³ kinds of coffee plants have changed the traditional methods. Now, many coffee farmers grow their crop in full sun and use man-made fertilizers. The result is a larger crop and what appears to be too much coffee on the world market.

The World Bank has suggested that farmers use traditional methods of growing coffee. It has also studied production methods that permit better prices and continued development. It calls this "sustainable coffee." The World Bank says that sustainable2 coffee requires more investment⁴ in coffee production methods.

In October, the World Bank announced the first international price insurance for small coffee producers. Price insurance is financial protection that farmers buy. It protects them from losing money on insured⁵ crops. The insurance will help two-hundred-fifty coffee growers in Matagalpa, Nicaragua. Nicaragua, and companies from Sweden and Switzerland provided⁶ support for the project.

The World Bank also says that people in rich countries should be willing to buy what is called "fair trade coffee." That is coffee sold by growers who observe rules on record-keeping, growing methods and safe working conditions. These coffees cost more, but may help protect coffee growers in developing economies.
1. fertilizer [5fE:tI7laIzE] n. 肥料(尤指化学肥料)
2. sustainable [sE`steInEbl] adj. 可以忍受的, 足可支撑的, 养得起的

1 Latin   

adj.拉丁的，拉丁语的，拉丁人的；n.拉丁语

参考例句：

• She learned Latin without a master.她无师自通学会了拉丁语。
• Please use only Latin characters.请仅使用拉丁文字符。

2 fertilizers   

肥料，化肥( fertilizer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the long-term effects of fertilizers 肥料的长远影响
• Crushed bones make one of the best fertilizers. 骨粉是最佳肥料之一。

3 productive   

adj.能生产的，有生产价值的，多产的

参考例句：

• We had a productive meeting that solved some problems.我们开了一个富有成效的会议，解决了一些问题。
• Science and technology are part of the productive forces.科学技术是生产力。

4 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

5 insured   

被保险人

参考例句：

• Was the vehicle insured? 那辆车上保险了吗？
• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently. 原来他没有给房屋投足保险。

6 provided   

conj.假如，若是；adj.预备好的，由...供给的

参考例句：

• Provided it's fine we will have a pleasant holiday.如果天气良好，我们的假日将过得非常愉快。
• I will come provided that it's not raining tomorrow.如果明天不下雨，我就来。