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From VOA Learning English, |
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this is the Economics Report. |
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The United Nations is warning that the world |
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is not prepared to deal with |
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the fast growth of cities. |
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The World Economic and Social Survey 2013 calls for |
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new ways to meet the needs of city populations. |
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More than 6.5 billion people |
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are expected to be living in cities by 2050. |
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Most new city dwellers will be in developing countries. |
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The United Nations says the effect on limited resources |
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in many countries will be huge. |
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The World Economic and Social Survey |
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points to the increasing demand for energy, water, |
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sanitation, public services, education and health care. |
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The world population is expected to rise |
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to more than nine billion by 2050, |
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two-thirds of all people are expected to live in cities. |
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The United Nations says about 80 percent of |
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this growing urban population will be found in Africa and Asia. |
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The report says sustainable development of urban areas |
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requires coordination and investments |
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to deal with important issues, these include land-use, |
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food security, job creation and transportation. |
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Willem Van Der Geest is with the United Nations |
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Department of Economic and Social Affairs, |
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he says cities need to work closely with rural communities, |
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so that food supplies can be secured, |
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and the environment can be protected. |
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"We need sufficient integration with cities... |
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An integration between the rural |
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and urban economies is absolutely vital for issues of nutrition, |
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food security, and environmental sustainability." |
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The report says development in a sustainable way |
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is important to ending poverty. |
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The report also examines the problem of food insecurity, |
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which affects hundreds of millions of people around the world. |
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One in eight people are still chronically undernourished. |
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UN officials says somethings are clear. |
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The Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Development, |
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Shamshad Akhtar, |
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says world food production will have to increase by 70%, |
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that increase will be needed to feed the additional |
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2.3 billion people expected on the planet by the middle of the century. |
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She says an important part of meeting that need is to waste less food. |
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"There has to be efforts to reduce food wastage. |
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Changes will have to take place in the food chain-production, |
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storage, transportation and consumption." |
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Food and nutrition security |
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are core elements of the sustainable development agenda. |
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And that's the Economics Report from VOA Learning English, |
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I'm Mario Ritter. |