VOA标准英语2008年-The Business of Opium in Afghanistan: Nangahar

By Siri Nyrop
Nangahar Province, Afghanistan
27 May 2008
 

Afghanistan supplies virtually all of the world's illegal opium¹.  Last year, the country's drug trade was a $4 billion business, half of which alone was produced in the south where the fighting against the Taliban insurgency² is the fiercest.

Getting Afghanistan to rid itself of poppy is a pillar of U.S. policy there, because the Taliban use profits from opium as a source of revenue.  For Afghans themselves, however, feelings about poppy are conflicted:  It's harmful to their country and to their people, but it is also a livelihood³ for many where instability offers few alternatives.

In the third of a four part series, VOA's Afghan service examines the drug trade in Afghanistan's Nangahar province. VOA's Siri Nyrop narrates⁴.

In 2005, Nangahar province was a shining example of successful poppy eradication⁵.

It went from being one of Afghanistn's top poppy-cultivating provinces to planting almost none.

U.S.-funded programs paid farmers to work on projects requested by the community.  Such as a water diversion project to expand the reach of the Kabul River.

Many people believed that the government would fully⁶ compensate⁷ them for giving up the living they earned from poppy.

Within two years, Nangahar's fields were filled with poppy again.

Farmer, Malik Chakan, says, "Farmers have gone back to growing poppy here because they're poor and desperate.  They were expecting help from the government that hasn't arrived. We don't have a health clinic, we don't have schools or electricity."

With Afghan poppy production providing almost the entire world supply of opium, Nangahar's fields became part of a battlefront.  It's a controversial struggle between Afghanistan's need to curb⁸ its drug trade, and the farmers' need to earn a livelihood.

Eradicating⁹ poppy is a pillar of U.S. policy in Afghanistan, says, Ambassador Thomas Schweich Coordinator¹⁰ for Counternarcotics and Justice Reform in Afghanistan. "The United Nations says that you need to eradicate¹¹ about 20 percent of the poppy in a given area in order to deter¹² planting the next year. The objective is to not lower the number of hectares under cultivation¹³. The objective is to interject risk to the farmer. What keeps them from planting the next year is the fear of eradication," he said.

It's hard for community leaders in Nangahar to make the argument against planting poppy when conditions for licit crops are so difficult. 

Elder Dour¹⁴ Jan and fellow farmers have struggled with years of drought.  A crop like wheat requires much more water than poppy, and poppy yields more income in just one harvest.

These villagers don't even have potable water.  They have to go to another village and carry it back. 

Arghandi Gul, Village Elder explains, "Last year they told us they would provide an alternative livelihood if we agreed to eradicating the poppy.  So people happily agreed.  In return for this, we got 400 bags of fertilizer for 4,000 homes.  This year, we got sixty 20kg bags of flour for our village.  That was their 'alternative livelihood'!"

No crop pays like poppy.  But without rainfall or irrigation, it isn't possible to grow enough of anything else just to make ends meet.

The Afghan government will keep trying to convince farmers to stop growing poppy.   The search is for an effective balance between the carrot of alternative livelihoods¹⁵ and the stick of eradication.

1 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

2 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

3 livelihood   

n.生计，谋生之道

参考例句：

• Appropriate arrangements will be made for their work and livelihood.他们的工作和生活会得到妥善安排。
• My father gained a bare livelihood of family by his own hands.父亲靠自己的双手勉强维持家计。

4 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

5 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

6 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

7 compensate   

vt.补偿，赔偿；酬报 vi.弥补；补偿；抵消

参考例句：

• She used her good looks to compensate her lack of intelligence. 她利用她漂亮的外表来弥补智力的不足。
• Nothing can compensate for the loss of one's health. 一个人失去了键康是不可弥补的。

8 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。

9 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

10 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？

11 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

12 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

13 cultivation   

n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成

参考例句：

• The cultivation in good taste is our main objective.培养高雅情趣是我们的主要目标。
• The land is not fertile enough to repay cultivation.这块土地不够肥沃，不值得耕种。

14 dour   

adj.冷酷的，严厉的；（岩石）嶙峋的；顽强不屈

参考例句：

• They were exposed to dour resistance.他们遭受到顽强的抵抗。
• She always pretends to be dour,in fact,she's not.她总表现的不爱讲话，事实却相反。

15 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。