Africa Eyes Boosting Rice Crop to Fight Hunger

歌曲 Africa Eyes Boosting Rice Crop to Fight Hunger
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[00:00.100] From VOA Learning English,
[00:02.800] this is the Agriculture Report.
[00:05.700] Researchers are developing ways
[00:08.960] to increase rice production in Africa
[00:11.850] as part of efforts to fight hunger.
[00:15.540] Their work was discussed
[00:17.890] at the African Rice Congress in Cameroon last month.
[00:22.290] Experts say 60 percent of the thirty million tons of
[00:28.340] rice used in Africa is imported from Asia.
[00:33.600] They estimate that Africa spends $5 billion
[00:38.520] on rice imports every year.
[00:41.420] And yet the United Nations
[00:44.470] Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) says
[00:48.170] they are still rice shortages on the continent.
[00:52.060] Rice production was reduced in some countries
[00:57.270] after the economic crisis of the 1990s.
[01:01.570] Samantana Mark is director general of
[01:05.480] Cameroon's rice production company, SEMRY.
[01:09.830] He says that with beginning of the crisis,
[01:13.780] African countries stopped making investments
[01:19.250] in rice production and in the marketing of rice.
[01:23.550] Issues like climate change and extreme temperatures
[01:29.180] have slowed rice production,
[01:31.530] especially in areas south of the Saharan desert.
[01:35.980] Plant disease is also a problem.
[01:40.010] But some African researchers say
[01:43.910] they have developed rice plants
[01:46.530] that can grow in areas with little rain fall.
[01:51.090] Nigerian-born Adekoya Madinat works with
[01:56.140] the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
[02:00.540] "With this research we try to see how much water
[02:03.550] exactly is needed for rice production
[02:06.120] and try to see which genes are actually recruited
[02:10.470] during the event of droughts.
[02:12.720] So these genes can be used to develop drought-resistant varieties
[02:16.530] that can be plante with minimal water
[02:18.970] and we still have very good yields and food security," said Madinat.
[02:22.590] Delegates to the congress called for
[02:25.530] great mechanization of African agriculture,
[02:29.380] and they agree that investing in rice production requires a lot of money.
[02:36.360] Robert Guei works for the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization.
[02:43.990] He says that investments in rice production
[02:47.440] should be a top issue for African governments
[02:51.340] seeking to end hunger and poverty.
[02:55.110] "African governments have to support small companies.
[02:59.060] These people have to be encouraged
[03:00.870] so governments have to come out with good policies
[03:03.660] whereby these companies are subsidized.
[03:06.470] Help them to have credits to banks and loans
[03:10.470] so that they can produce these varieties of rice
[03:14.090] and distribute and this is what FAO is doing now,
[03:16.800] talking to governments to set up policies," said Guei.
[03:19.000] Experts say that currently,
[03:21.200] African countries produce about 12 million tons of rice per year.
[03:27.310] And that's the Agriculture Report from VOA Learning English.