VOA慢速英語: 受價格低因素的影響，肯尼亞農民轉向種植紫茶

受價格低因素的影響，肯尼亞農民轉向種植紫茶

From VOA Learning English, this is the AGRICULTURE REPORT.

這里是美國之音慢速英語的農業(yè)報道。

Tea farmers in Kenya are suffering because of low prices for their crop this year. So they have exchanged their tea bushes for a healthy new purple tea that they hope will sell for a higher price. But there may not be a demand for the new kind of tea.

肯尼亞的種茶農戶因為作物價格低而遭受損失，因此，他們改變了茶樹叢，種植一種更健康的紫茶，他們希望能夠賣個更高的價錢。但是對于這種新品種的茶，也許并沒有需求市場。

Agricultural workers in green tea fields near Mt. Kenya are gathering the tea leaves. It is beautiful to see. The rows of tea bushes are straight. All appears to be well. But the farmers who planted the bushes are worried. Nelson Kibara is one of them. He has been growing tea in the Kerugoya area for forty years.

肯尼亞山脈附近的綠茶田里，農業(yè)勞動者正在采摘茶葉，遠看去很漂亮。茶樹叢列很筆直，所有這一切看上去都還不錯，但是種植茶樹叢的農民卻在擔心。尼爾森·基巴拉就是其中一個，他已經在肯哥亞（Kerugoya）地區(qū)種植了40年的茶。

He says the prices this year have been so low that he has made almost no profit. He says he must grow different kinds of tea if he is to survive.

他說今年的茶葉價錢太低了，幾乎沒有什么利潤。要想存活下去，他必須種植一些別的茶。

Mr. Kibara and hundreds of other farmers have been removing some of their tea bushes and planting a new kind of tea developed by the Tea Research Foundation of Kenya. Its leaves are purple and brown. When the tea is boiled the drink has a purple color.

基巴拉和其他數(shù)百名農戶正在移除他們的茶樹叢，種植一種肯尼亞茶研究基地研發(fā)的新品種。茶葉是紫色和棕色的。茶煮沸后，呈現(xiàn)紫色。

Medical researchers have studied the health benefits of the new tea. They say it is healthier than black tea and could be sold for a price that is three to four times higher than the price of black tea. But Mr. Kibara says he has not received a higher price for his purple tea crop.

醫(yī)學研究員已經研究這種新茶的健康益處，他們說這種紫茶比紅茶更健康，價格是紅茶的三到四倍。但是基比亞說他種植的紫茶還沒有較高的收益呢。

He says the market for the tea is unstable. And he is often forced to sell his purple tea for the same price as green tea leaves. He says there are not enough buyers willing to pay more for the purple tea than black tea.

他說市場對茶的需求不穩(wěn)定定，紫茶總是被迫以跟綠茶同等的價錢出售。而且沒有那么多的消費者愿意支付更多錢來購買紫茶。

The Kenya Tea Development Agency represents small farmers. It says farmers have planted purple tea before a market has been created for it. Vincent Mwingirwa works at the agency.

代表小農利益的肯尼亞茶葉開發(fā)署，表示：還沒有開拓出紫茶的市場，農民就已經開始種植紫茶了。文森特·溫格瑞在該機構工作。

“What has happened is that purple tea has been developed for the farm. Unfortunately, there was not concurrent research on the market for purple tea. So we are now in a scenario where some of our farmers have planted purple tea, but they do not know where to take it.”

“紫茶是專門為農業(yè)研發(fā)的，但遺憾的是，同期并沒有做一下紫茶的市場調查，所以，現(xiàn)在我們面對這樣一個情況：茶農已經種植了紫茶，但是他們不知道怎么把這些茶葉很好地賣出去。”

Stephen Mutembei works at the Tea Research Foundation. He says farmers quickly changed from growing black tea to growing purple tea. But he also blames tea leaf processors for not making changes more quickly. But Mr. Mutembei says purple tea is an important crop for the country and its tea farmers. He says Kenya needs to find new products like purple tea to help its tea industry become more stable. Tea is the country's top crop.

史蒂芬·馬特姆貝就在茶葉研究基地工作，他說茶農轉變很快，不種綠茶，改種紫茶。但是他還埋怨茶葉加工商沒有加快改變的進程。但是馬特姆貝說紫茶對該國以及茶農來說是種重要的作物。他說肯尼亞需要找到更多的新產品，比如紫茶來幫助茶葉產業(yè)更加穩(wěn)定，茶葉是肯尼亞的頂級作物。

Mr. Mutembei says the country's economy is too closely linked to the changing price of black tea. He says tea buyers and drinkers must be persuaded that they should pay more for purple tea than black tea.

馬特姆貝說國家的經濟狀況與紅茶價格的浮動關系太緊密了，購買茶葉的顧客、以及飲茶的人需要保證對于紫茶，他們會支付比紅茶更多的錢。

And that's the VOA Learning English AGRICULTURE REPORT. I’m Caty Weaver.

這里是美國之音慢速英語的農業(yè)報道，我是凱蒂·威佛爾。