This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.
这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。
Niger is located in the Sahel area south of the Sahara. The west African country is largely hot, dry desert. But since the nineteen eighties Niger has gotten a lot greener.
尼日尔位于撒哈拉以南的萨赫勒地区。这个西非国家大部分是炎热、干燥的沙漠。但自从20世纪80年代以来，尼日尔的绿化越来越好。
Around the world, trees are often cut down to clear land for bigger farms or more homes for growing populations. But in Niger many farmers plant trees to protect their crops. They might cut some down, but often to sell the wood so they can buy food during a drought.
在世界各地，树木经常被砍伐，为更多农田或为日益增长的人口建造房屋提供土地。但在尼日尔，许多农民种植树木来保护庄稼。他们可能会砍一些树，但往往是在旱季期间出售木材来换取食物。
Over the years, an agricultural adviser named Tony Rinaudo has helped people in the Sahel learn about the value and care of trees. Mr. Rinaudo says government officials and nongovernmental organizations were not the ones who spread the idea.
多年来，一位名叫托尼·里纳乌多（Tony Rinaudo）的农业顾问帮助萨赫勒地区人们了解树木的价值和养护。里纳乌多称，传播这一理念的并非政府官方和非政府组织。
TONY RINAUDO: "Much of the response has actually come from the farmers and the communities themselves, as opposed to NGOs and the government. Once the farmers have embraced and accepted this technology, they have practiced and they have shared it with their neighbors. And it has spread from farmer to farmer. So that has been very exciting."
里纳乌多：“对这一理念的大部分回应实际上来自农民和社区本身，而不是非政府组织和政府。一旦农民接受这一技术，他们就会付诸实践，并与邻居分享。这一理念在农民之间不断传播，这是非常令人激动的。”
Trees can provide a wind barrier. They improve the soil when their leaves fall. And they protect against soil erosion by holding moisture in the ground.
树木可以提供防风屏障。落到地上的树叶还能改良土壤。树木还能保持水分防止土壤侵蚀。
Niger often has severe dry periods. Researchers say villages where farmers planted trees did better than others during a drought and food shortage in two thousand five.
尼日尔经常有严重的干旱期。研究人员表示，在2005年干旱和食品短缺期间，种植树木的村庄比其他村庄情况更好。
Mahamane Larwanou works for the group African Forest Forum. Mr. Larwanou says the villagers who had trees grew more food and could also eat fruit from fruit trees. And they could sell wood to buy food.
马哈马内·内瓦卢（Mahamane Larwanou）就职于非洲森林论坛组织。内瓦卢表示，种植了树木的村庄生产了更多粮食，而且可以食用果树的果实。他们还能出售木材换取食品。
MAHAMANE LARWANOU: "The populations of those villages really survive better than those who do not have trees on their own farm because they can cut wood and take to the big city to sell and get some money to buy cereals. And, also, they use the leaves and the fruits of those tree species just to survive."
内瓦卢：“这些村庄的村民比没有种植树木的村民生活得更好。因为他们可以砍伐木材到大城市出售换取粮食。同时，他们还可以利用这些树种的树叶和果实活下来。”
In the past, the French colonists who ruled Niger had a policy of government ownership of trees. Not surprisingly, this policy did nothing to make farmers want to take care of a valuable resource that was not their own.
过去，统治尼日尔的法国殖民者的政策是树木归政府所有。毫无疑问，这项政策使农民不想去照料这些不属于他们的宝贵资源。
In Burkina Faso, a farmer named Yacouba Sawadogo became internationally known for growing a forest. His neighbors resisted his new farming methods at first -- they even burned his land. But later they saw how trees could protect the soil against the spreading desert.
在布基纳法索，一位名为雅库巴·萨瓦多戈（Yacouba Sawadogo）的农民因为种树而闻名国际。他的邻居最初抵制他的耕种方法，甚至烧毁他的土地。但是后来他们看到了树木可以保护土壤，防止沙漠扩大。
His story is documented in a film called "The Man Who Stopped the Desert." But Mr. Sawadogo says in much of Africa, "Nobody is looking after our forests."
他的故事被记录在一部名为《The Man Who Stopped the Desert》的电影中。但萨瓦多戈表示，在非洲大部分地区，“无人照料我们的森林。”