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打印【Good News, Bad News on Food Prices and Production】
TEXT:This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
Food prices have risen sharply over the past few years. The good news is that the rate of increas
e has slowed. The bad news is that prices will not go down anytime soon.
粮食价格在过去几年中急剧上涨。好消息是，上涨速度已经放缓。坏消息是，价格短不会很快下降。
Also, the rate of global agricultural production is slowing. Yet it needs to increase sixty percent over the next forty years to feed a growing world population.
此外，全球农业生产增长的速度正在放缓。然而，未来40年，农业生产增长率需要增加60%，才能养活不断增加的世界人口。
These are among the findings from the OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2012-2021. The OECD is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The FAO is the Food and Agriculture Organization, a United Nations agency.
这些都是经合组织-粮农组织《2012-2021农业展望报告》的调查结果。经合组织是指经济合作与发展组织，粮农组织是指联合国机构粮食和农业组织。
FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva spoke at a news conference in Rome last week when the report was released. Mr. Da Silva said that, not surprisingly, the world's poorest people will feel the greatest effects of higher prices.
粮农组织总干事Jose Graziano da Silva上周在罗马公布这份农业展望报告的新闻发布会上做了发言。Da Silva先生称，不出意外，世界上最贫穷的人口将感受到粮食价格上涨的巨大影响。
JOSE GRAZIANO DA SILVA: "For the millions and millions of people living in extreme poverty, the implications of high food prices are clear -- they might have to change their diets, usually to ones with poorer nutrition quality."
JOSE GRAZIANO DA SILVA：“对于数以百万计极端贫困的人民来说，高粮价的影响是显而易见的，他们可能不得不改变自己的饮食，吃营养品质更差的食物。”
In middle-income countries, people are gaining weight as they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more of the cheaper but less nutritious foods.
在中等收入国家，人们因为吃较少的水果蔬菜，吃更多的便宜但低营养的食物而体重增加。
The report also shows that farmers in poorer countries will be leading efforts to feed an expected nine billion people by twenty-fifty. The outlook predicts that farmers in Latin America, the Caribbean and sub-Saharan Africa will drive agricultural production in the future. Angel Gurria is chief of the OECD.
该报告还显示，到2050年，贫穷国家的农民将成为养活预计的90亿人口的主力军。这份展望报告还预测，拉丁美洲、加勒比地区和撒哈拉以南非洲地区的农民将推动未来的农业生产。Angel Gurria是经合组织的首席。
ANGEL GURRIA: "We can feed nine billion people by twenty-fifty in this planet without stretching things too far. But we have to organize ourselves better."
ANGEL GURRIA：“直到2050年，我们可以在不开发过度的情况下养活这个星球上的90亿人口。但是，我们不得不更好地组织起来。”
But there are plenty of challenges. One-fourth of all agricultural land is damaged. Many countries face water shortages. And experts believe climate change is driving increasingly unusual weather patterns.
但仍有很多挑战。四分之一的农业用地被破坏。许多国家面临水资源短缺。而专家认为，气候变化正在推动越来越不寻常的天气模式。
The report says farmers need to use more environmentally sustainable growing methods. At the same time, it says governments should end economically harmful supports and invest more in agricultural production. Mr. Gurria says rich and poor nations need to treat agriculture more like a business.
该报告称，农民需要采用更加环保的可持续增长的方法。同时，它说，政府应当结束跟经济相关的有害支持，加大对农业生产的投资。Gurria先生称，富有和贫穷的国家必须将农业一门生意对待。
ANGEL GURRIA: "In many cases, agriculture is related in people's minds to the poorest. It's related to aid. It's related to very depressed living conditions, etcetera. We got to shake that image away."
ANGEL GURRIA：“在许多情况下，农业在人们的心目中和最贫穷挂钩，与援助相关，和极端萧条的生活条件等等有关。我们已经开始动摇这种印象。”
It also means reducing waste. The FAO and the OECD estimate that about one-third of world food production is lost -- either because of poor growing and harvesting methods or because people are throwing away good food.
这也意味着减少浪费。粮农组织和经合组织估计，约占世界粮食产量三分之一的粮食流失。原因要么是因为低劣的种植和收割方法，要么是因为人们扔掉原本好的食物。
