联合国警告新一轮粮食危机

飞雪寒冰

The bill for global food imports will top $1,000bn this year for the second time ever, putting the world “dangerously close” to a new food crisis, the United Nations said.
联合国称，全球粮食进口费用今年将有史以来第二次突破1万亿美元，全世界距离新一轮粮食危机“十分接近，情况危险”。

The warning by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organisation adds to fears about rising inflation in emerging countries from China to India. “Prices are dangerously close to the levels of 2007-08,” said Abdolreza Abbassian, an economist at the FAO.
联合国粮农组织(FAO)的警告加重了人们对中国、印度等新兴经济体通胀上扬的担忧。FAO经济学家阿普杜勒礼萨•阿巴斯安(Abdolreza Abbassian)说：“粮食价格十分接近2007-08年的水平，情况危险。”

飞雪寒冰

The FAO painted a worrying outlook in its twice-yearly Food Outlook on Wednesday, warning that the world should “be prepared” for even higher prices next year. It said it was crucial for farmers to “expand substantially” production, particularly of corn and wheat in 2011-12 to meet expected demand and rebuild world reserves.
FAO周三发布了每年两期的《粮食展望》(Food Outlook)，其中描绘了一幅令人担忧的前景，警告世界应该为明年粮价继续上涨“做好准备”。FAO提出农民“大幅扩大”生产对于满足预期的需求并重建全球储备至关重要，尤其是2011-12年度的玉米和小麦产量。

But the FAO said the production response may be limited as rising food prices had made other crops, from sugar to soyabean and cotton, attractive to grow.
然而FAO也表示，由于食品价格上涨使种植糖类作物、大豆和棉花等具有吸引力，因此增产回应可能有限。

飞雪寒冰

The agency raised its forecast for the global bill for food to $1,026bn this year, up nearly 15 per cent from 2009 and within a whisker of an all-time high of $1,031bn set in 2008 during the food crisis.
该组织对今年全球粮食支出的预测升至1.026万亿美元，比2009年上涨了近15%，与2008年粮食危机期间达到的1.031万亿美元历史最高纪录十分接近。

“With the pressure on world prices of most commodities not abating, the international community must remain vigilant against further supply shocks in 2011,” the FAO added. In the 10 years before the 2007-08 food crisis, the global bill for food imports averaged less than $500bn a year.
FAO又补充道：“由于面临着全球多数大宗商品价格居高不下的压力，国际社会必须对2011年进一步供应冲击保持警惕。”2007-08年粮食危机前的十年中，全球粮食进口费用平均低于每年5000亿美元。

飞雪寒冰

Agricultural commodities prices have surged following a series of crop failures caused by bad weather. The situation was aggravated when top producers such as Russia and Ukraine imposed export restrictions, prompting importers in the Middle East and North Africa to hoard supplies. The weakness of the US dollar, in which most food commodities are denominated, has also contributed to higher prices.
由于受到恶劣天气影响，农作物一再歉收，农产品价格出现大幅上涨。而俄罗斯和乌克兰等最大的粮食生产国采取出口限制措施又促使中东北非的进口国囤积粮食。多数粮食类大宗商品都以美元计价，因此美元贬值也是粮价提高的原因之一。