VOA慢速英语2012 Agriculture Report - Will Cost of Cocoa Raise the Price of Valentine's Day?

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This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

Valentine's Day, February fourteenth, is one of the biggest days of the year for lovers of chocolate. Americans are expected to spend more than one billion dollars on chocolates and other candies for their sweethearts this holiday.

2月14日情人节是巧克力爱好者今年最重要的一个日子。预计这次情人节美国人在巧克力和其它糖果上将为心上人花费超过10亿美元。

But the chocolate industry worries that prices for its sweets could rise in the years ahead. Susan Smith is a spokeswoman for the National Confectioners Association, a trade group for the candy, chocolate and gum industries.

但巧克力行业担心糖果价格未来几年可能会上涨。苏珊·史密斯（Susan Smith）是美国糖果协会发言人。该协会是一家糖果、巧克力和口香糖行业的贸易组织。

SUSAN SMITH: "They're very aware that an everyday candy product needs to be an affordable¹ treat."

史密斯：“他们很清楚日常糖果产品必须是一种负担得起的享受。”

Americans buy more than eighteen billion dollars worth of chocolate each year. But keeping chocolate at prices that people can afford may be a challenge in the future.

美国人每年购买了超过180亿美元价值的巧克力。但让巧克力保持一个公众负担得起的价格可能是未来一大挑战。

Demand is growing, especially in Asia. More people in Asia are developing a taste for chocolate and have more money to buy it. The chocolate industry worries that supply will not keep up with demand.

对巧克力的需求一直在增长，特别是在亚洲。亚洲越来越多人开始喜欢上巧克力，并有更多钱购买巧克力。巧克力行业担心供应赶不上需求。

Cocoa is the main ingredient in chocolate. Millions of poor farmers in West Africa grow about seventy percent of the world's cocoa. Each farmer has just a few hectares of land.

数百万西非农民种植了全球70%的可可。可可是巧克力的主要成分。每个农民只有几公顷土地。

LYNDEL MEINHARDT: "And they don't have a lot of additional capital. They may not have the management skills that are required to actually do a better job."

LYNDEL MEINHARDT：“同时他们没有很多额外资金。他们可能也没有真正把工作做得更好所需的管理能力。”

Lyndel Meinhardt supervises cocoa research at the United States Department of Agriculture. Mr. Meinhardt says these farmers often do not have the money to buy fertilizers that would increase their productivity.

Lyndel Meinhardt在美国农业部管理可可研究。Meinhardt先生表示，这些农民往往没有足够资金购买可以提高他们生产力的化肥。

And Sona Ebai with the World Cocoa Foundation says when the land stops producing, farmers just clear more land. Deforestation in West Africa is largely the result of so-called slash-and-burn agriculture for cocoa and other crops.

而全球可可基金会的Sona Ebai表示，当土地停止产出时，农民们只是清理出更多土地。西非滥砍滥伐的主要原因就是可可和其它农作物所谓的砍烧耕作农业。

Mr. Ebai, a senior technical adviser², says economic forces are not the only problems facing cocoa farmers. Experts say pests and diseases destroy thirty to forty percent of the world's cocoa crop each year.

Ebai先生是一名高级技术顾问。他说，经济压力不是可可农民面临的唯一问题。专家称病虫害每年破坏了全球可可产量的30%到40%。

The chocolate industry needs farmers to produce more cocoa to meet the growing demand. Small-scale farmers need help to increase their productivity and lift themselves out of poverty, without destroying more rainforest. And West African governments want to help an industry worth eight billion dollars a year. Sona Ebai says all sides are working together to seek solutions.

巧克力行业需要农民生产出更多可可来满足日益增长的需求。小规模农户需要帮助以使他们能够在不破坏雨林的前提下增加其生产力并摆脱贫困。而西非各国政府想要帮助这个每年产值达到800亿美元的产业。Sona Ebai表示，各方正共同努力以寻求解决办法。

SONA EBAI: "For the first time, farmers, processors, chocolate multinationals³, civil society are working to make sure that the cocoa economy in the world is sustainable -- everybody chipping in to make it stay that way."

SONA EBAI：”农民、加工商、巧克力跨国公司和公民社会首次合作以确保全球可可经济可持续发展--大家合力确保它的实现。”

Millions of dollars are being invested to increase the productivity of West African cocoa farmers. Chocolate makers⁴ like Mars and Nestle are putting money into the effort. So are organizations like the United States Agency for International Development and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

数百万美元被投资用来增加西非可可农民的生产力。像玛氏和雀巢等巧克力商正在这上面大举投入，还包括美国国际开发商和比尔和梅林达·盖茨基金会这样的组织机构。

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report. I'm Jim Tedder⁵.

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Contributing: Steve Baragona

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