首页
外语
计算机
考研
公务员
职业资格
财经
工程
司法
医学
专升本
自考
实用职业技能
登录
考研
On New Year’s Day, 50,000 inmates in Kenyan jails went without lunch. This was not some mass hunger strike to highlight poor liv
On New Year’s Day, 50,000 inmates in Kenyan jails went without lunch. This was not some mass hunger strike to highlight poor liv
admin
2012-01-05
41
问题
On New Year’s Day, 50,000 inmates in Kenyan jails went without lunch. This was not some mass hunger strike to highlight poor living conditions. It was an extraordinary humanitarian gesture: the money that would have been spent on their lunches went to the charity Food Aid to help feed an estimated 3.5 million Kenyans who, because of a severe drought, are threatened with starvation. The drought is big news in Africa, affecting huge areas of east Africa and the Horn. If you are reading this in the west, however, you may not be aware of it—the media is not interested in old stories. Even if you do know about the drought, you may not be aware that it is devastating one group of people disproportionately: the pastoralists. There are 20 million nomadic or semi- nomadic herders in this region, and they are fast becoming some of the poorest people in the continent. Their plight encapsulates Africa’s perennial problem with drought and famine.
How so? It comes down to the reluctance of governments, aid agencies and foreign lenders to support the herders’ traditional way of life. Instead they have tended to try to turn them into commercial ranchers or agriculturalists, even though it has been demonstrated time and again that pastoralists are well adapted to their harsh environments, and that moving livestock according to the seasons or climatic changes makes their methods far more viable than agriculture in sub-Saharan drylands.
Furthermore, African pastoralist systems are often more productive, in terms of protein and cash per hectare, than Australian, American and other African ranches in similar climatic conditions. They make a substantial contribution to their countries’ national economies. In Kenya, for example, the turnover of the pastoralist sector is worth $800 million per year. In countries such as Burkina Faso, Eritrea and Ethiopia, hides from pastoralists’ herds make up over 10 percent of export earnings. Despite this productivity, pastoralists still starve and their animals perish when drought hits. One reason is that only a trickle of the profits goes to the herders themselves; the lion’s share is pocketed by traders. This is partly because the herders only sell much of their stock during times of drought and famine, when they need the cash to buy food, and the terms of trade in this situation never work in their favour. Another reason is the lack of investment in herding areas.
Funding bodies such as the World Bank and-USAID tried to address some of the problems in the 1960s, investing millions of dollars in commercial beef and dairy production. It didn’t work. Firstly, no one bothered to consult the pastoralists about what they wanted. Secondly, rearing livestock took precedence over human progress. The policies and strategies of international development agencies more or less mirrored the thinking of their colonial predecessors. They were based on two false assumptions: that pastoralism is primitive and inefficient, which led to numerous failed schemes aimed at converting herders to modern ranching models; and that Africa’s drylands can support commercial ranching. They cannot. Most of Africa’s herders live in areas with unpredictable weather systems that are totally unsuited to commercial ranching.
What the pastoralists need is support for their traditional lifestyle. Over the past few years, funders and policy-makers have been starting to get the message. One example is intervention by governments to ensure that pastoralists get fair prices for their cattle when they sell them in times of drought, so that they can afford to buy fodder for their remaining livestock and cereals to keep themselves and their families alive (the problem in African famines is not so much a lack of food as a lack of money to buy it). Another example is a drought early-warning system run by the Kenyan government and the World Bank that has helped avert livestock deaths.
This is all promising, but more needs to be done. Some African governments still favour forcing pastoralists to settle. They should heed the latest scientific research demonstrating the productivity of traditional cattle-herding. Ultimately, sustainable rural development in pastoralist areas will depend on increasing trade, so one thing going for them is the growing demand for livestock products: there will likely be an additional 2 billion consumers worldwide by 2020, the vast majority in developing countries. To ensure that pastoralists benefit, it will be crucial to give them a greater say in local policies. Other key tasks include giving a greater say to women, who play critical roles in livestock production. The rich world should pay proper attention to the plight of the pastoralists. Leaving them dependent on foreign food aid is unsustainable and will lead to more resentment, conflict, environmental degradation and malnutrition. It is in the rich world’s interests to help out.
Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?
选项
A、Forcing Africa’s nomadic herders to become ranchers will save them from drought.
B、The difference between pastoralist and agriculturalist is vital to the African people.
C、The rich world should give more support to the African people to overcome drought.
D、Environmental degradation should be the major concern in developing Africa’s pastoralism.
答案
A
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://jikaoti.com/ti/2dwUFFFM
本试题收录于:
翻译硕士(翻译硕士英语)题库专业硕士分类
0
翻译硕士(翻译硕士英语)
专业硕士
相关试题推荐
dominantculture
EnergyCrisisTheU.S.CensusBureauhasestimatedthatthepopulationoftheUnitedStatescouldapproach300millionin2
prudentmonetarypolicy
Therearemorerichpeoplethaneverbefore,includingsome7millionmillionaires,andover400billionaires.Fromsippingcham
Ihaveanunendingloveaffairwithdictionaries—Audenoncesaidthatallawriterneedsisapen,plentyofpaperand"thebest
Ifambitionistobewellregarded,therewardsofambition—wealth,distinction,controloverone’sdestiny—mustbedeemedworth
"TheLostGeneration"referstotheyoungpeople().
美国总统(ThePresidentoftheUnitedStatesofAmerica)是美利坚合众国的国家元首和政府首脑,同时是美国行政部门的最高领袖与三军统帅,一般被称为Mr.President(总统先生)。依据《美利坚合众国宪法》第二条
You______hurthisfeelingsbysayingthat,evenif"youthoughtit.
Theotherdayanacquaintanceofmine,agregariousandcharmingman,toldmehehadfoundhimselfunexpectedlyaloneinNewYor
随机试题
夸美纽斯曾经写道:“教师是自然的仆人,不是自然的主人;他的使命是培植,不是改变,所以,假如他发现了某门学科与某个学生的天性不合,他决不应强迫他去学习;因为在某一方面缺少的东西多半会由另一方面去补足。……假如没有一个学生违背本人的意志,被迫去学习任何学科,我
[2013年第5题]为验证结构的安全性,业主委托某科研单位对模拟结构进行破坏性试验,由此产生的费用属于:
下列非银行金融机构中,()及其分公司仅限于向境内外金融机构提供经纪服务,不得从事任何金融产品的自营业务。
政府失效也称政府失灵,是指政府在为弥补市场失灵而对经济、社会生活进行干预的过程中,由于政府行为自身的局限性和其他客观因素的制约而产生的新的缺陷,进而无法使社会资源配置效率达到最佳的情景。下列不属于政府失效表现的是()。
现代企业制度的主要内容可概括为()。
管理学
下列关于强令违章冒险作业罪的说法错误的是()。
下列关于WindowsServer2003系统下DNS服务器安装和配置的描述中,错误的是()。
A、我还没决定去不去B、我什么时候都可以C、你去我就跟着去D、我去不去都可以B
Novels,magazines,andnewspapers—manypeoplereadtheseintheirsparetime.Thesedaysitiseasyformostofustogetholdo
最新回复
(
0
)