VOA标准英语2009年-WFP Starts Food Vouchers in Burkina Faso

The United Nations is giving food vouchers² to poor families in Burkina Faso who have access to private sector³ markets, but can not afford higher food prices there. The innovative⁴ program is alsp helping⁵ local shopkeepers.

This is the first time the World Food Program is working through food vouchers in Africa. It is targeting more than 120,000 people in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou, who have access to staples⁶ such as millet⁷ and sorghum⁸, but can not afford them because their price is up more than 25 percent from last year.

"We have markets in urban areas that are functioning properly. You have food in the markets, but it is still unaffordable for the poorest," says WFP West Africa spokeswoman Stephanie Savariaud.

Savariaud says each qualifying low-income family receives up to six vouchers a month. Each voucher¹ is worth about $3 and can be redeemed¹⁰ at small shops that signed-up for the program.

"They show their voucher to the shop and they get vegetable oil, maize¹¹, sugar, salt, and also soap bars. Because one thing that came out of an evaluation¹² last year is that people are so poor they even have to buy soap bars on credit," Savariaud said.

Retailers¹³ are paid back through a local micro-finance company that is partnering with the World Food Program, helping to boost the local economy, especially in poorer areas of the capital where business was down because people could not afford to shop.

"The shopkeepers were also a victim of the situation. And that is the point: to try to get different actors to benefit from that," Savariaud said.

Last year's steep rise in food prices was especially hard on land-locked countries such as Burkina Faso where higher transportation costs added to the increase.

Savariaud says the temporary voucher program gives lower income people in Burkina Faso the chance to act on longer-term economic opportunities instead of focusing on the daily search for affordable⁹ food.

"They will have for the next six months vouchers to give them food, and that might also give them some free time maybe to either develop a business or do something else or maybe look for a job. Because basically for some people it has become a very difficult struggle just to get up in the morning and think about what they were going to eat and how they are going to feed their family," she said.

Catholic Relief Services and the Burkinabe Red Cross helped identify those who would benefit most from the food vouchers. The French government financed much of the technical support for the program which is also funded through contributions from the Burkinabe government and Saudi Arabia.

The second round of vouchers begins later this month. The program will eventually expand to Burkina Faso's second city of Bobo-Dioulasso where about 60,000 people are expected to receive vouchers

1 voucher   

n.收据；传票；凭单，凭证

参考例句：

• The government should run a voucher system.政府应该施行凭证制度。
• Whenever cash is paid out,a voucher or receipt should be obtained.无论何时只要支付现金，就必须要有一张凭据或者收据。

2 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

3 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。

4 innovative   

adj.革新的，新颖的，富有革新精神的

参考例句：

• Discover an innovative way of marketing.发现一个创新的营销方式。
• He was one of the most creative and innovative engineers of his generation.他是他那代人当中最富创造性与革新精神的工程师之一。

5 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

6 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

7 millet   

n.小米，谷子

参考例句：

• Millet is cultivated in the middle or lower reaches of the Yellow River.在黄河中下游地区，人们种植谷子。
• The high quality millet flour was obtained through wet milling.采用湿磨法获得了高品质的小米粉。

8 sorghum   

n.高粱属的植物，高粱糖浆，甜得发腻的东西

参考例句：

• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。
• They made sorghum into pig feed.他们把高粱做成了猪饲料。

9 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

10 redeemed   

adj. 可赎回的，可救赎的 动词redeem的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• She has redeemed her pawned jewellery. 她赎回了当掉的珠宝。
• He redeemed his watch from the pawnbroker's. 他从当铺赎回手表。

11 maize   

n.玉米

参考例句：

• There's a field planted with maize behind the house.房子后面有一块玉米地。
• We can grow sorghum or maize on this plot.这块地可以种高粱或玉米。

12 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

13 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。