VOA常速英语2017--尼日利亚农业部部长获世界粮食奖

（单词翻译）

On October 20th, Dr. Akinwumi Ayodeji Adesina of Nigeria became the 2017 recipient¹ of the prestigious² World Food Prize.

The World Food Prize, known as the “Nobel Prize for Agriculture and Nutrition”, is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world. It was established in 1986 by Norman Borlaug, an agronomist³ and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate who is widely recognized as the "father of the Green Revolution".

Over the past two decades, Dr. Adesina, formerly⁴ Nigeria's Minister of Agriculture and now the President of the African Development Bank, has worked tirelessly to expand Nigeria's agricultural production, thwart⁵ corruption⁷ and increase the availability of credit to smallholder farmers across Africa. As Minister of Agriculture, he introduced E-Wallet, a system of electronic vouchers⁸ which allows farmers to by-pass corrupt⁶ elements that had controlled the fertilizer distribution system for 40 years.

As a direct consequence of the E-Wallet system, the production of cassava, rice, sorghum⁹, maize¹⁰ and cotton rose dramatically, resulting in a significant increase in farmers' income and significant improvement of food security for 40 million people in rural farm households.

It makes no sense, you have a continent with 65 percent of all the world's uncultivated, arable¹¹ land not being able to feed itself, said Dr. Adesina. We have to unlock the full potential of Africa's agriculture, and turn agriculture from something that's used for managing poverty to something that's used for creating wealth.

Dr. Adesina pledged to use the 250,000 dollar award that comes with the World Food Prize, to provide fellowships and grants to young Africans dedicated¹² to making a living through agriculture.

Congratulations on winning the 2017 World Food Prize. Your Devotion to the cause of fighting hunger is admirable and deeply needed, said Vice¹³ President Mike Pence in a statement read at the award ceremony by USAID Administrator¹⁴ Mark Green. As our global food system is stretched, and the need to feed more people grows, agricultural transformation¹⁵ will require persistence¹⁶ from leaders like you in driving change and capitalizing on public and private sector¹⁷ expertise¹⁸.