This is Shep O'Neal with the VOA Special English
Development Report.
A new report says 75 percent of farmland in southern Africa has
lost nutrients needed to grow crops. The highest rates of nutrient loss are in
Guinea, Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. More than sixty kilograms of
nutrients per hectare are being lost each year. The study also warned that food
imports to Africa would need to increase if immediate action is not taken.
The international nonprofit organization I.F.D.C. released the report at
the Rockefeller Foundation in New York City last month. Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo headed the event. He called on African leaders, aid groups and
farming organizations to support a meeting in Nigeria in June to discuss
Africa’s soil crisis.
The meeting would discuss ways to increase agricultural
productivity across Africa. These include reductions in nutrient mining, limits
on cutting of trees, less use of infertile
grassland, and better farming methods that protect the
environment. The meeting also would aim to increase the use of natural and
manufactured chemical fertilizers in Africa.
Lack of rain is also harming soil fertility in Africa. The
World Meteorological Organization says dry weather conditions in East Africa
will continue in April. Several of the worst affected areas have recorded
their driest months since 1961. The United Nations warns that more than
eleven million people in the area urgently need food assistance.
The World Food Program has launched a new program that could help pay
for a possible humanitarian emergency in Ethiopia this year. The U.N.
agency has purchased an insurance agreement that will pay money if rainfall does
not reach a certain level this year. The insurance policy is reported to have
cost 930 thousand dollars. It was awarded to a French insurance company.
The company will pay the World Food Program about seven million dollars if
rainfall between March and October in Ethiopia is below a certain level. The
money would be used to get emergency aid more quickly.
James Morris heads the World Food Program. He says the insurance program
could help change the way governments think about emergency aid.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I’m
Shep O'Neal. Our programs are online at voaspecialenglish.com.
infertile : not fertile;
unproductive or barren （不肥沃的；貧瘠的）
