VOA标准英语2009年-Official says Agricultural Development Key

By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
20 October 2009

 
Ibrahim Mayaki, Chief of New Partnership¹ for Africa's Development -NEPAD
The Chief of the New Partnership for Africa's Development, or NEPAD,

 says agricultural development is the key to prosperity for Africa. Ibrahim Mayaki says the bill for food imports in Africa runs about $40 billion a year, but if half that amount is invested in sound agricultural policies, the pay off could be tremendous.
In 2002, African leaders established the NEPAD-led Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP). Its main goal is to use agriculture-based development to end hunger, reduce poverty and food insecurity, as well as increase opportunities for Africa to become a food exporter.

NEPAD chief Ibrahim Mayaki was in New York for discussions Wednesday about African development in the U.N. General Assembly. He said agriculture is not just a sector² in Africa, it is a way of life, because the majority of Africans live in rural areas. "So, if we want to reduce poverty and create wealth, we have to put the priority on that dimension so that we create generating income activities," he said.

He told VOA that requires assisting small farmers in getting access to seed and fertilizers and also providing them with the infrastructure³, such as good roads, for getting their produce to markets. Another key element, he said, is the expansion of regional markets through intra-African trade.

Mayaki says financing for this initiative should come from Africa first. "We need, absolutely, to focus on the restructuring of our own public resources towards agriculture, and then the resources coming from the international community will be a complementary form of resource," he said.

Developing agriculture in Africa has become even more urgent since the United Nations warned in a report earlier this month that governments must increase investment in agriculture because a billion people around the world are going hungry - 265 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2003, African leaders pledged to allocate⁴ 10 percent of their budgets to agriculture by 2008, but the United Nations says only eight countries have implemented⁵ that promise. Mayaki says that is true, but that national spending on agriculture is increasing across Africa.

He said NEPAD aims to have tangible⁶ results with its agricultural initiative within the next few years. "We need to have these results within the timeframe of three to five years, absolutely. Otherwise, we will face political challenges and our institutions will really be challenged. So we need to do that for the sake of peace and security," he said.

At the end of the day, he said, agriculture is a political issue.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

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 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

4 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

5 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

6 tangible   

adj.有形的，可触摸的，确凿的，实际的

参考例句：

• The policy has not yet brought any tangible benefits.这项政策还没有带来任何实质性的好处。
• There is no tangible proof.没有确凿的证据。