2006年VOA标准英语-Africa's Biggest Cotton Producer Struggles

By Nico Colombant
Abidjan
03 April 2006
 

Man holds biological cotton  
  
Africa's biggest cotton producer, Mali, is struggling to renovate¹ its labor-intensive cotton sector² and keep growers out of poverty.

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The sound of picking cotton in Mali does not equate³ with easy money.

World prices have had several dips in recent years. Cotton growers get as little as 160 West African CFA francs per kilogram of cotton - about 30 cents.

In the southern town of Kita, some growers, weighing their cotton, are getting a little more, thanks to a small scale fair-trade initiative, whereby a few foreign buyers guarantee a higher price.

This is to offset⁴ huge subsidies⁵ that European and American cotton producers receive. Following complaints from countries like Mali, the World Trade Organization agreed to phase these out by 2013.

Until then, government officials and scientists are pushing for experimentation⁶ with genetically⁷-modified seeds. But, for some Malians, this option would make matters worse, not better.

The alter-globalization movement as it calls itself is led here by former Culture Minister Aminata Traore.

She says Africans have been burned (been taken advantage of) over and over. She says she is proud resistance is beginning against what she views as the new evil -multinationals⁸ like American-based Monsanto, allegedly pushing to create new dependencies with genetically modified seeds.

 
Mali's white gold
  
Another activist⁹ in the anti-"genetically modified" camp is French aid worker Franck Merceron, who says there are more pressing problems which need to be addressed, such as improving financial practices or dealing¹⁰ with possible privatization of the cotton sector.

He says the technology might work on large-scale farms in the United States, Australia or Brazil, but he does not believe it would be beneficial in the context of Mali's mostly small farms.

Merceron is working on developing chemical-free biological cotton for a Swiss group called Helvetas, but, so far, few growers are interested.

Producing cotton requires lots of spraying, and using bio-pesticides¹¹, although beneficial to the environment, reduces productivity.

The idea behind genetically-modified seeds is to reduce the need for pesticides and improving productivity.

A coordinator¹² for Mali's Institute of Rural Economy, Siaka Dembele, says that, at the very least, research on genetically modified technology, commonly referred to as GM, should be allowed.

He says the cotton industry is entering a crucial transition, with nearly a third of the world's cotton already genetically modified. He says GM experimentation is already being conducted in neighboring Burkina Faso and that Mali should soon follow, or else he warns it will be left behind.

Dembele accuses those against the new technology of being what he calls ideologues - basing themselves on unreliable information and propping¹³ up activists¹⁴ at the community level.

He also does not agree with their argument that cotton growers will become dependent of multinationals. He says special seeds will initially¹⁵ be bought, but afterwards, he believes these could be adapted to local conditions and appropriated.
 

Mali's cotton growers are seeking better prices  
  
Another target of the anti-GM group has been the United States Agency for International Development.

The U.S. government agency faces repeated accusations¹⁶ of buying off scientists and government employees, like Dembele, with trips and training abroad to make them amenable¹⁷ to GM prospects¹⁸.

American officials deny this, saying their role is to provide information.

They were not available to be recorded for this report, but said the agency is working with Malians on studying possible improvements to the cotton sector and agriculture, including, but not exclusively, genetically modified seeds. 

Companies like Monsanto say they are looking for new markets but that, in Africa, they also reduce their profit margins¹⁹ to help fight poverty.

These arguments ring hollow for the anti-GM group. They would like a revival²⁰ of the cotton sector to come from within their own borders.

They say another shame is that Malians produce few clothes, locally, like at this traditional factory, depending instead on used clothes sent by aid groups and resold in Africa.

Experts agree cotton and everything that revolves²¹ around it is a passionate²² issue in Mali, one of the world's poorest countries, despite having more than 600,000 hectares cultivating what was once known as "white gold."

Several laws are being formulated²³ in several government ministries²⁴ that would allow a legal framework for GM research, but experts agree it is very doubtful the government would seek to pass anything now, for fear of a popular backlash before presidential elections scheduled for next year.

1 renovate   

vt.更新，革新，刷新

参考例句：

• The couple spent thousands renovating the house.这对夫妇花了几千元来翻新房子。
• They are going to renovate the old furniture.他们准备将旧家具整修一番。

2 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

3 equate   

v.同等看待，使相等

参考例句：

• You can't equate passing examination and being intelligent.你不能把考试及格看成是聪明。
• You cannot equate his poems with his plays.你不可以把他的诗歌和他的剧本相提并论。

4 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

5 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

7 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

8 multinationals   

跨国公司( multinational的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These local companies are only small fry compared with the huge multinationals. 同那些跨国公司比，这些当地的公司不过是小鱼小虾。
• Some people believe that the multinationals have too much power. 有人认为跨国公司的权力太大了。

9 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 pesticides   

n.杀虫剂( pesticide的名词复数 )；除害药物

参考例句：

• vegetables grown without the use of pesticides 未用杀虫剂种植的蔬菜
• There is a lot of concern over the amount of herbicides and pesticides used in farming. 人们对农业上灭草剂和杀虫剂的用量非常担忧。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

13 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

14 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

16 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

17 amenable   

adj.经得起检验的；顺从的；对负有义务的

参考例句：

• His scientific discoveries are amenable to the laws of physics.他在科学上的发现经得起物理定律的检验。
• He is amenable to counsel.他这人听劝。

18 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

19 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

20 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

21 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

23 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

24 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。