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8.28亿人晚上饿着睡觉,科学是这么解决全球食物短缺的

828 Million Sleep Hungry at Night, Here’s How Science is Working to solve the Global Food Shortage

By Rhodilee Jean A. Dolor

In a video message delivered to the attendees of an international conference on food security held in Berlin, Germany in June, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world is facing a catastrophe because of worsening global food shortage.

联合国秘书长安东尼奥·古特雷斯6月在德国柏林举行的国际粮食安全会议上向与会者发表视频讲话时警告说,由于全球粮食短缺日益恶化,世界正面临一场灾难。

Guterres said that the hunger crisis could get worse and the current food hunger issues could become a global food shortage in 2023.

古特雷斯说,饥饿危机可能会恶化,目前的粮食饥饿问题可能在2023年成为全球粮食短缺。

“There is a real risk that multiple famines will be declared in 2022. And 2023 could be even worse,” he said, warning that harvests across Asia, Africa and the Americas will be impacted by rising costs of fertilizer and energy prices.

“2022年宣布多场饥荒的风险确实存在。2023年可能会更糟,”他警告说,亚洲、非洲和美洲的收成将受到化肥和能源价格上涨的影响。

No country will be immune to the social and economic repercussions of such a catastrophe.”

任何国家都无法免受这种灾难的社会和经济影响。”

Guterres’ warning is backed by data from the World Food Programme (WFP), the largest humanitarian organization that provides food assistance worldwide. According to the WFP, up to 828 million people go to bed hungry at night.  The number of people facing acute food security is also increasing, surging from 135 million in 2019 to 345 million.

古特雷斯的警告得到了世界粮食计划署(WFP)数据的支持,这是世界上最大的人道主义组织,在全球提供粮食援助。根据世界粮食计划署的数据,多达8.28亿人晚上饿着肚子睡觉。面临严重粮食安全的人数也在增加,从2019年的1.35亿人激增至3.45亿人。

Earth’s Warming Temperature Impacts Food Supply

地球变暖影响粮食供应

Several factors cause food insecurity and hunger, but the planet’s warming temperature is considered as a major contributor.  The WFP says that climate change, which causes more frequent and intense extreme weather events, is one of the leading causes of global hunger.

有几个因素会导致粮食不安全和饥饿,但全球变暖被认为是一个主要因素。世界粮食计划署表示,气候变化导致极端天气事件更加频繁和强烈,是全球饥饿的主要原因之一。

In 2020, for instance, extreme climate events such as floods, storms and drought, were the predominant driver of acute hunger in 15 countries.

例如,2020年,洪水、风暴和干旱等极端气候事件是15个国家严重饥饿的主要驱动因素。

“Climate extremes can trigger irregular rainfall patterns and cropping seasons, pest infestations, diseases, intense temperatures,” the WFP said. “These stressors hurt both crops and livestock and make livelihoods so precarious that small disruptions can result in severe hunger.”

世界粮食计划署表示:“极端气候会引发不规则的降雨模式和作物季节、虫害、疾病和高温。”“这些压力源会损害作物和牲畜,使生计变得非常不稳定,轻微的破坏就可能导致严重的饥饿。”

In a study published in the journal Nature food in November 2021, Jonas Jägermeyr, from NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and colleagues looked at how climate change could impact the world’s major crops in the future.

在2021年11月发表在《自然食品》杂志上的一项研究中,美国宇航局戈达德空间研究所的乔纳斯Jägermeyr及其同事研究了气候变化如何影响未来的世界主要作物。

The analysis showed that as early as 2030, corn yields are projected to drop by 24 percent as a result of Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers said that climate change will also reduce harvest yields for soybean and rice.

分析显示,最早在2030年,由于温室气体排放导致地球变暖,玉米产量预计将下降24%。研究人员表示,气候变化还将减少大豆和大米的产量。

“Results suggest markedly more pessimistic yield responses for maize, soybean and rice compared to the original ensemble. Mean end-of-century maize productivity is shifted from +5% to −6% (SSP126) and from +1% to −24% (SSP585)—explained by warmer climate projections and improved crop model sensitivities,” the researchers reported.

“结果表明,与原始组合相比,玉米、大豆和水稻的产量反应明显更为悲观。本世纪末玉米平均产量从+5%下降到- 6% (SSP126),从+1%下降到- 24% (SSP585)——这是由气候变暖预测和作物模式敏感性提高所解释的,”研究人员报告说。

Science and Food Security

科学与粮食安全

Amid the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme weather events driven by climate change, researchers are exploring ways to improve food security as extreme heat, prolonged droughts and flooding threaten crop production and food supply.

由于气候变化导致极端天气事件的频率和强度不断增加,在极端高温、长期干旱和洪水威胁作物生产和粮食供应的情况下,研究人员正在探索改善粮食安全的方法。

In a study published in Plant Physiology on Sep. 22, researchers from Boyce Thompson Institute and Cornell University looked at the molecular mechanism of tomato that allows the fruit to thrive when it does not get enough water.

9月22日,博伊斯汤普森研究所和康奈尔大学的研究人员在《植物生理学》杂志上发表了一项研究,他们研究了番茄在缺乏水分的情况下能够茁壮成长的分子机制。

Carmen Catalá, from BTI and the School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS) at Cornell, and colleagues were able to identify a number of genes involved in water stress. The findings may lead to tougher breeds of fruits that can survive hostile environments.

Carmen Catalá,来自BTI和康奈尔大学综合植物科学学院(SIPS),他和同事们能够识别出一些与水分胁迫有关的基因。这一发现可能会导致更坚韧的水果品种,可以在恶劣的环境中生存。

“We can now begin to select candidate genes that could help breeders develop fruit that can adapt to drought conditions, and not just tomatoes but also grapes, apples, and fleshy fruit in general. That is a long-term potential application of these data,” said Catalá. The researchers said they also discovered a way to make tomatoes more resistant to future water droughts.

“我们现在可以开始选择候选基因,帮助育种者培育出能够适应干旱条件的水果,不仅是西红柿,还有葡萄、苹果和一般的多肉水果。这是这些数据的长期潜在应用,”Catalá说。研究人员表示,他们还发现了一种使番茄更能抵御未来干旱的方法。

“When we sowed the seeds from treated plants, we found that the seedlings from stressed tomatoes showed improved recovery from water stress in comparison to seedlings from control tomatoes,” said researcher Philippe Nicolas, from BTI.

BTI的研究员菲利普·尼古拉斯说:“当我们从处理过的番茄中播种种子时,我们发现,与对照番茄的幼苗相比,胁迫番茄的幼苗从水分胁迫中恢复得更好。”

In another study published in Plant Molecular Biology on June 22, researchers from the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science also investigated a way for plants to withstand heat stress in a bid to make crops more resilient to global warming.

在6月22日发表在《植物分子生物学》上的另一项研究中,日本理化学研究所可持续资源科学中心的研究人员也研究了一种植物抵御热胁迫的方法,以使作物更能适应全球变暖。

Using lettuce and thale cress in their experiments, study researcher Motoaki Seki and colleagues found that applying ethanol, a common alcohol, to plants prior to heat exposure makes them more tolerant to heat stress. “Chemical priming, using safe agents, that can flexibly activate adaptive regulatory responses to adverse conditions, is a complementary approach to genetic improvement for stress adaptation,” the researchers wrote.

研究人员Motoaki Seki和他的同事在实验中使用了生菜和水芹,他们发现在植物受热前施用乙醇(一种常见的酒精)能使它们更能耐受热胁迫。研究人员写道:“化学启动,使用安全的药剂,可以灵活地激活对不利条件的适应性调节反应,是改善遗传以适应压力的补充方法。”

Researchers from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia also found a way to improve the tolerance of plants against drought and salinity. The method also improves growth, yield and the nutritional value of plants.

沙特阿拉伯阿卜杜拉国王科技大学(KAUST)的研究人员也发现了一种提高植物对干旱和盐的耐受性的方法。这种方法还能提高植物的生长、产量和营养价值。

In the study published in Metabolic Engineering in March, Juan Moreno, from KAUST, and colleagues found that introducing a single gene of the carotenoid pathway into tomatoes increased fruit yield by up to 77 percent and enhanced the beta carotene content of the fruits by 20-fold.

在3月份发表在《代谢工程》杂志上的一项研究中,来自KAUST的Juan Moreno和他的同事们发现,将一个类胡萝卜素途径的单一基因引入番茄,可使果实产量提高77%,并使果实中的β -胡萝卜素含量提高20倍。

“Our findings pave the way for developing a new generation of crops that combine high productivity and increased nutritional value with the capability to cope with climate change-related environmental challenges,” the researchers wrote in their study.

研究人员在研究报告中写道:“我们的发现为开发新一代作物铺平了道路,这种作物既能提高生产力、增加营养价值,又能应对与气候变化相关的环境挑战。”

Other Factors That Drive Hunger

导致饥饿的其他因素

While climate change largely contributes to world hunger, it is worth noting that there are other key contributors.  Logistics, for instance, is an issue that largely impacts people’s access to food. The United Nations Environment program (UNEP) said that 14 percent of all food produced for consumption is lost before reaching consumers.

虽然气候变化在很大程度上导致了世界饥饿,但值得注意的是,还有其他主要因素。例如,物流是一个很大程度上影响人们获得食物的问题。联合国环境规划署(UNEP)表示,所有用于消费的食品中,有14%在到达消费者之前就丢失了。

According to UNEP’s Sustainable Food Cold Chains report, developing countries may save 144 million tons of food annually if they have the same level of food cold chain infrastructure that developed countries have.

根据联合国环境规划署的可持续食品冷链报告,如果发展中国家拥有与发达国家相同水平的食品冷链基础设施,他们每年可以节省1.44亿吨粮食。

Other factors that the WFP cites as drivers of global hunger include conflicts, poverty which call for competent political interventions.

世界粮食计划署指出,其他导致全球饥饿的因素包括冲突和贫困,这些都需要强有力的政治干预。

Science may not hold the answer to feeding the millions who sleep with empty stomach at night. Still, it is fortunate that researchers are looking for ways to address a primary concern in feeding the world—ensuring the production of enough food.

科学可能无法解决数百万人晚上空腹睡觉的问题。不过,幸运的是,研究人员正在寻找方法来解决养活世界的主要问题——确保生产足够的食物。

Taking Control of The Food System

控制食物系统

Governments and corporations are making  large investments in agriculture and come up with systems that affect farmers and consumers.

政府和企业正在对农业进行大量投资,并提出了影响农民和消费者的制度。

In the Netherlands, the Dutch government is buying out farmers to close down livestock production in a bid to reduce nitrogen emission produced by animal waste.  China is also buying up farmlands in other countries. At the start of 2020, Chinese firms already control  192,000 agricultural acres in the US worth $1.9 billion.

在荷兰,荷兰政府正在收购农民关闭牲畜生产,以减少动物粪便产生的氮排放。中国也在购买其他国家的农田。到2020年初,中国企业已经在美国控制了19.2万英亩农业用地,价值19亿美元。

Large corporations likewise monopolize the industry and centralize food production. Only four companies, for example, now control over 60 percent of the seeds in the global market.

大公司同样垄断了这个行业,集中了食品生产。例如,现在只有四家公司控制着全球市场上60%以上的种子。

Unfortunately, farmers and food consumers do not always benefit from governments and large companies taking control of the industry. Dutch farmers are protesting against the government’s move claiming that it will put many of them out of business.

不幸的是,农民和食品消费者并不总是能从政府和大公司控制的行业中受益。荷兰农民抗议政府的举动,称这将使他们中的许多人失业。

Foreign purchases of farmlands may also artificially increase the value of these lands, which will deprive local beginning farmers the opportunity to cultivate these lands.

外国购买农田也可能人为地增加这些土地的价值,这将剥夺当地初级农民耕种这些土地的机会。

Monopoly and centralized operation also make the large segment of the population largely reliant on large centralized farms, shifting the focus out of small scale farmers.

垄断和集中经营也使大部分人口在很大程度上依赖于大型集中农场,转移了小农的注意力。

According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), industrial production of livestocks may foster antimicrobial resistance. Large-scale farming is also associated with reliance on pesticides and degradation of the soil, which could further threaten food security and human health.

根据联合国环境规划署(UNEP)的说法,牲畜的工业生产可能会促进抗菌素耐药性。大规模农业还与对农药的依赖和土壤退化有关,这可能进一步威胁粮食安全和人类健康。

“Large volumes of chemical fertilizers and pesticides are used to increase agricultural yields and humans may be exposed to these potentially-toxic pesticides through the food they consume, resulting in adverse health effects. “

“大量化肥和农药被用于提高农业产量,人类可能通过食用食物接触到这些潜在有毒的农药,对健康造成不利影响。”

The standardization of seeds and plants may also bring profits to their producers, but can also result in a new set of problems for the end consumers.

种子和植物的标准化也可能给生产者带来利润,但也可能给最终消费者带来一系列新的问题。

“This produces a very unbalanced kind of control of food and resources,” the non-profit Non-GMO Project explained.

非营利组织“非转基因项目”解释说:“这会导致对食物和资源的控制非常不平衡。”

“This monopolization means that our food systems — and the ecosystems they rely upon — are based on a limited number of crops. The more reliant we are on that limited number of crops, the more our fates are tied to theirs. As the effectiveness of herbicide-tolerant and pest-resistant crops fail, it’s well past time to diversify our food system portfolio.”

“这种垄断意味着我们的粮食系统——以及它们所依赖的生态系统——是基于有限数量的作物。我们越是依赖有限的农作物,我们的命运就越与他们的命运联系在一起。随着抗除草剂和抗虫害作物的有效性失效,我们早就应该使粮食系统的投资组合多样化了。”

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