VOA标准英语2009年-Ghana Debates Viability of Biofuels

Africa is central to the worldwide growth in biofuels, with Dutch, American, Swedish, Japanese, German, and British firms all competing for farmland to grow the next generation of energy producing crops. Some farmers in Ghana are concerned about what biofuels mean for food security.
　
Corn

Ghana has made itself a focal point of biofuel growth in Africa.

As host of this year's World Jatropha Summit, the government in Accra is seeking greater investment in the hardy¹ plant whose seeds can be crushed into an oil that is processed into high-quality biodiesel.

Jatropha curcas can yield four times more biofuel per hectare than soybeans and more than 10 times that of corn.

In Ghana, seven private companies are currently farming about 50,000 hectares of land for biofuels.

The non-governmental organization Food Security Policy Advocacy Network studied the impact of multinational² jatropha production in the Volta, Eastern, Central, and Ashanti regions. The survey, conducted with ActionAid Ghana, found what it said were serious threats to livelihood³ and food security

Kingsley Ofei Nkansah is general secretary of Ghana's Agricultural Workers' Union.

"Ongoing⁴ land grabbing is taking place in parts of the country where the populations are largely farming populations," said Kingsley Ofei Nkansah. "Land is a major social and political issue, very explosive and very much inclined to provoke a lot of conflict in different parts of the country. Again we believe that the land grabbing business is in actual fact taking vital resources away from farmers."

With hundreds of farmers not planting traditional food crops this season, Nkansah believes there is a real risk that the shift to biofuels will result in food shortages.

"How would we justify⁵ an essentially⁶ agrarian⁷ country importing most of the food that it eats and then using our lands to produce something else that we don't eat? Which country is doing that in the world and why should Ghana do that? We have the capacity to produce the food that we eat," said Nkansah. "Why should we be encouraged to lease large tracts⁸ of land for bio fuel production that we are not eating to make money and use that money to import food?"

Ghana's Agriculture Ministry⁹ says private sector¹⁰ farmers are free to do what they like with their land. The ministry's chief director, Joseph Boamah, says government officials have seen no evidence that biofuel growth is threatening food production.

"This has not come to our notice," said Joseph Boamah. "In fact we are widespread. Our District Directors haven't brought this news, extension officers are not complaining, nobody has gone to complain. You know that farming is a private sector activity. Investors¹¹ have the right to go and negotiate with farmers."

Ghana's land tenure¹² system permits owners to lease their land to investors for any purpose. Odame Larbi directs Ghana's Land Administration Project at the Minister of Lands and Forestry¹³.

"Many of the lands are under customary arrangement and depending on the specific area where the land is being acquired the specific customary arrangements in that area would apply," said Odame Larbi. "The Constitution of Ghana says that the management of stool lands shall be done by the owners of the land. So generally it is the chiefs who have been managing these lands and entering into negotiations¹⁴ with the investors who area acquiring land for biofuel production."

Nkansah says the government has responsibilities greater than land tenure.

"We cannot sit down as a people and say that the constitution says this in one part," said Nkansah. "The constitution in other parts say that the government has responsibility in ensuring that the people are protected and those rights include livelihood rights. It also includes the right to food which is a fundamental right contained in the international covenant¹⁵ on economic, social and cultural rights. The government has ratified¹⁶ that covenant, so it has the responsibility to ensure that people are not denied their right to food."

Civil society groups are calling on President John Atta-Mills' government to draw up a comprehensive biofuels policy to reconcile these issues.

Ghana's Energy Commission has been working on a biofuels policy since 2005. The government says it will now work with a new umbrella organization called the Civil Society Coalition¹⁷ on Land to push ahead on land rights issues including biofuels, environmental management, and sanitation¹⁸.

1 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

2 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

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 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

6 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

7 agrarian   

adj.土地的，农村的，农业的

参考例句：

• People are leaving an agrarian way of life to go to the city.人们正在放弃农业生活方式而转向城市。
• This was a feature of agrarian development in Britain.这是大不列颠土地所有制发展的一个特征。

8 tracts   

大片土地( tract的名词复数 )； 地带； （体内的）道； （尤指宣扬宗教、伦理或政治的）短文

参考例句：

• vast tracts of forest 大片大片的森林
• There are tracts of desert in Australia. 澳大利亚有大片沙漠。

9 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

10 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。

11 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

12 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

13 forestry   

n.森林学；林业

参考例句：

• At present, the Chinese forestry is being at a significant transforming period. 当前, 我国的林业正处于一个重大的转折时期。
• Anhua is one of the key forestry counties in Hunan province. 安化县是湖南省重点林区县之一。

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 covenant   

n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约

参考例句：

• They refused to covenant with my father for the property.他们不愿与我父亲订立财产契约。
• The money was given to us by deed of covenant.这笔钱是根据契约书付给我们的。

16 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

17 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

18 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。