VOA标准英语2011--Foreign Investors See Potential in Afric

Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Africa. In addition to providing employment, agriculture has the potential to transform African societies through the increased export of produce to Western markets.
Many agree that transformation¹ will not take place without increased investment in agriculture, including public or private loans to small farmers. Statistics show that Africa has about 12% of the world's arable² land but 80% of it is not in use. Observers say there are many opportunities to develop land and even make it attractive to agribusinesses.
The Kenyan story
Among those taking advantage of new opportunities are Kenyan farmers, including some who are now making millions of dollars exporting flowers.
According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, horticulture has become the third largest source of foreign exchange in Kenya after tourism and tea.
But statistics show that farming in Kenya is still typically carried out by small farmers who usually cultivate no more than two hectares.
Adieno Achieng is a small scale farmer in Kisumu. She says government can support farmers like herself by subsidizing farm inputs³ like fertilizers and seeds. She says that farmers would also benefit from access to agricultural loans.
Investment in small farmers
But in recent years, government assistance to small farmers and to agriculture in general has been in decline.
Mohammed Beavogui is the director of the Western & Central Africa Division of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy.
He says even international development aid meant for agriculture "dropped from 20% to 4%..."
But he says that there are signs to show that this trend is changing because of the rise in food prices internationally. "People complain of food prices, but for agriculture somewhere, it is an opportunity," he says.
Leaders from many developing countries are also recognizing the need to invest in their own food security.
At the 2009 G8 Summit in L'Aquila, Italy, donors⁴ collectively committed $20 billion to agricultural development and a new approach to global food security.
Beavogui says, "The share of agriculture in development is increasing.... For example, my institution, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, got an increase of almost 50 percent of its replenishment⁵ to support agricultural projects.... All these are showing that there is an effort to invest in agriculture," he says.
He says productivity in Africa has a long way to go to catch up with counterparts in developing nations in Asia. "We still have to introduce new seeds...new technology, and fertilizer..."
Improved Infrastructure⁶ Needed
Also needed, say development specialists are improved ways to take goods to market.
"If you want agriculture to work you need to allow agricultural products to get to the market, and that means you need roads," Beavogui says.
The decision to invest in local agriculture often depends on a region's ability to move goods from the farm to the factories or to ports for export.
Statistics indicate that only 34% of sub-Saharan Africa's rural population lives within two kilometers of a paved road. ???? In most of Africa, poor road infrastructure accounts for investors⁷ deciding to look elsewhere. "Every fifth African needs at least five hours to get to the nearest market...." Beavogui says.
Economists⁹ point to Malawi, which earns up to 70 percent of its foreign exchange from tobacco. Most of it is grown in the rural areas, where farmers have to transport the crop many miles to the commercial capital, Blantyre.
Foreign Investment
There are some signs that local and western investors are slowly attracting interest in African agricultural potential. The best example is the African Agricultural Land Fund, a private equity¹⁰ strategy that seeks to invest in food production across sub-Saharan Africa.
EmVest Asset Management is a joint¹¹ venture between GrainVest South Africa and Emergent Asset Management of Britain. EmVest is managed by people with an active interest in African agriculture. GrainVest is a South African firm that is active throughout the agriculture production chain, including crops, maize¹² milling and futures¹³ trading.
Patrick Devenish is the CEO of agro-industrial conglomerate¹⁴ AICO Africa, Ltd., incorporated in Zimbabwe. He was recently in the United States to network with other African CEOs in New York.
He says that AICO has invested heavily in African agriculture and the returns have been good. In Zimbabwe, the company is involved in buying and seed cotton, from which it makes and sells cotton lint¹⁵.
Devenish says the agricultural sector¹⁶ in Africa is a particularly under-targeted area that offers great returns for any western investor⁸. He'd also like to see US companies provide a market for African agricultural exports. "We would like to see a demand pull rather than push," he says. Government has a role to play in attracting investment, Devenish says.
"We would like to see a government focusing on providing an environment for conducive¹⁷ to business rather than getting directly involved in the business.... There are government interventions¹⁸ that have made life difficult."
That includes Zimbabwe, he says, where the government confiscated¹⁹ the farms of once-successful farmers.
AICO Africa Ltd. has been providing financing to small-scale cotton farmers, says Devenish, because "the average small farmer in Zimbabwe doesn't have access to [it]...."
Mohammed Beavogui of IFAD Beavogui says another project sponsored by Kofi Annan's NGO, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is developing a "breadbasket approach" to coordinate²⁰ agricultural development efforts in a Ghana. The plan will add up to US $500m to the agricultural component²¹ of GDP, create up to 15,000 new jobs and double the household incomes of close to 250,000 smallholders.
Meanwhile, a company called Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which serves West Africa is helping²² small farmers. Its CEO, Andrew Ali, says the strategy of investing in small farms is more useful "than replicating²³ the big farms in the midwest of the US...."
Beavogui says it's similar to the model used by Asian nations like Singapore where small farms are the cornerstone of the country's relatively²⁴ successfully agricultural export strategy.

1 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

2 arable   

adj.可耕的，适合种植的

参考例句：

• The terrain changed quickly from arable land to desert.那个地带很快就从耕地变成了沙漠。
• Do you know how much arable land has been desolated?你知道什么每年有多少土地荒漠化吗？

3 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网

4 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 replenishment   

n.补充(货物)

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• Natural replenishment of this vast supply of underground water occurs very slowly. 靠自然补充大量地下水是十分缓慢的。

6 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。

7 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

8 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

9 economists   

n.经济学家，经济专家( economist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The sudden rise in share prices has confounded economists. 股价的突然上涨使经济学家大惑不解。
• Foreign bankers and economists cautiously welcomed the minister's initiative. 外国银行家和经济学家对部长的倡议反应谨慎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

11 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

12 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。

13 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

14 conglomerate   

n.综合商社，多元化集团公司

参考例句：

• The firm has been taken over by an American conglomerate.该公司已被美国一企业集团接管。
• An American conglomerate holds a major share in the company.一家美国的大联合企业持有该公司的大部分股份。

15 lint   

n.线头；绷带用麻布，皮棉

参考例句：

• Flicked the lint off the coat.把大衣上的棉绒弹掉。
• There are a few problems of air pollution by chemicals,lint,etc.,but these are minor.化学品、棉花等也造成一些空气污染问题，但这是次要的。

16 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。

17 conducive   

adj.有益的，有助的

参考例句：

• This is a more conducive atmosphere for studying.这样的氛围更有利于学习。
• Exercise is conducive to good health.体育锻炼有助于增强体质。

18 interventions   

n.介入，干涉，干预( intervention的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
• The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网

19 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

20 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

21 component   

n.组成部分，成分，元件；adj.组成的，合成的

参考例句：

• Each component is carefully checked before assembly.每个零件在装配前都经过仔细检查。
• Blade and handle are the component parts of a knife.刀身和刀柄是一把刀的组成部分。

22 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。

23 replicating   

复制( replicate的现在分词 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• Applications create these partitions for storing and replicating data. 应用程序创建这些分区用来储存和复制数据。
• The closest real things to these creatures were bits of self-replicating RNA. 最贴近这些造物的实物是能做一点微不足道的自复制的核糖核酸。

24 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。