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
35
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.
When the author writes "the policies and strategies of international development agencies more or less mirrored the thinking of their colonial predecessors." ( Para. 4), he implies all the following EXCEPT that the aid agencies did not ______.
选项
A、have an objective view of the situation in Africa
B、understand the unpredictable weather systems there
C、feel themselves superior in decision making
D、care about the development of the local people
答案
D
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://kaotiyun.com/show/wkua777K
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
harmonywithoutuniformity
Ifambitionistobewellregarded,therewardsofambition—wealth,distinction,controloverone’sdestiny—mustbedeemedworth
"TheLostGeneration"referstotheyoungpeople().
Theword"girl"originallymeant"youngpersonofeithersex",butnowthewordsignifies"youngpersonoffemalesex".This
“Weareinterestedincontentthatpeoplewanttosharepartlyforpragmaticreasons.”这句话准确的汉语翻译是()。
Hisstoryofrescuingtendrowningmentotallybyhimselfwas______.
Inthe1939classicWestern"Stagecoach",avillainousbankerwithabagofembezzledcashinhislapfretsaboutthestateof
Whenthetelevisionisgood,nothing—notthetheater,notthemagazines,ornewspapers—nothingisbetter.Butwhentelevisionis
TheheadoftheLibraryofCongressistonameDonaldHall,awriterwhosedeceptivelysimplelanguagebuildsonimagesoftheN
随机试题
有荚膜的肺炎链球菌毒力__________,其菌落形态为___________型。
采用碘量法测定维生素C含量的正确叙述有
下列关于妨害司法罪的说法,错误的是:()
试拌混凝土时,如混凝土拌和物的和易性不符合要求,最常采用的方法是调整()。
电梯的电气装置安装中,适用于交流双速梯,装设在两端站的安全保护装置有()。
“利润分配”账户按其所反映的经济内容属于()账户。
会计报表部分的主表,即企业在会计期末编制的主要会计报表。其中反映物业服务企业在某一特定时日(如年末、季末、月末)财务状况的财务报表是()
根据职业生涯规划设计的()原则,应考虑目标是否符合自己的性格、兴趣和特长。
美育就是艺术教育。()
志向是青春的火焰,是生命的动力。周恩来在中学时期就立下了“为中华之崛起而读书”的志向,李四光、钱学森等老一辈知识分子在青年时期就立志用自己的聪明才智报效祖国。这给我们的启示是()
最新回复
(
0
)