Increasingly severe droughts in Africa make it very hard to grow food, especially in the dryer areas of the continent. But a water system developed in the United States is helping improve crop production in drought-affected areas.
非洲日益严重的干旱使粮食种植变得非常困难，尤其是在非洲大陆的干旱地区。但美国开发的供水系统正在帮助改善受干旱影响地区的作物产量。
 
The system involves plastic membranes that look like clear covers. When put in the ground, they prevent the loss of water and other healthful substances from the soil.
该系统涉及看起来像透明覆盖物的塑料膜。当放入地下时，它们可以防止土壤中的水分和其他健康物质流失。
 
The technology has so far been tested in Zimbabwe and Kenya and has been performing well.
迄今为止，该技术已在津巴布韦和肯尼亚进行了测试，并且表现良好。
 
In the village of Ulilinzi of southeastern Kenya, the sandy soil has made it nearly impossible to produce a lot of crops. The problem is made worse by droughts. But the new water retention technology is giving farmers here new hope.
在肯尼亚东南部的 Ulilinzi 村，沙质土壤几乎不可能大量生产农作物。干旱使问题更加严重。但新的保水技术给这里的农民带来了新的希望。
 
Alvin Smucker is a professor of soil biophysics at Michigan State University. He developed the water system.
Alvin Smucker 是密歇根州立大学土壤生物物理学教授。他开发了水系统。
 
"We had a lot of government funding, going into millions and millions of dollars to put all these systems together and then test it in Texas, Arizona, California and Michigan," he said.
“我们有大量的政府资金，投入数百万美元将所有这些系统放在一起，然后在德克萨斯州、亚利桑那州、加利福尼亚州和密歇根州进行测试，”他说。
 
"This is not something that we just put a little container in the backyard — my backyard — and now we are saying it is the best in the world. It has been tested," he said.
“这不是我们只是在后院——我的后院——放一个小容器的东西，现在我们说它是世界上最好的。它已经过测试，”他说。
 
Shem Kuyah is a researcher at the Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. He is one of the scientists leading the testing of the technology in Kenya. He said the membranes were tested on farms that grow cowpeas and corn.
Shem Kuyah 是乔莫肯雅塔农业科技大学的研究员。他是在肯尼亚领导该技术测试的科学家之一。他说，这些膜在种植豇豆和玉米的农场进行了测试。
 
"We realized that farms where we had installed these membranes were more productive," he said.
“我们意识到我们安装了这些膜的农场生产力更高，”他说。
 
Florence Mutisya is a farmer there. She has tried the technology at her farm.
Florence Mutisya 是那里的农民。她已经在她的农场尝试过这项技术。
 
"I saw the benefits," she said. "And I can say that this technology is working very well because now, I get [a] good harvest."
“我看到了好处，”她说。“而且我可以说这项技术运行良好，因为现在，我得到了 [a] 丰收。”
 
Ulilinzi farmer Anne Mutunga agrees.
Ulilinzi 的农民 Anne Mutunga 对此表示赞同。
 
"The technology is very good," she said, adding, "we have vegetables which you can't find anywhere else around here."
“这项技术非常好，”她说，并补充说，“我们有蔬菜，你在这里其他任何地方都找不到。”
 
Sylvia Nyawira is a researcher at the International Center for Tropical Agriculture, one of the organizations leading testing in the sub-Saharan area. She said the retention technology could help crop growth over a long time period.
Sylvia Nyawira 是国际热带农业中心的研究员，该中心是在撒哈拉以南地区进行测试的组织之一。她说，保留技术可以帮助作物在很长一段时间内生长。
 
"If farmers continue to retain their crop residues in the soil…there's buildup of organic matter," she said. "So, even in five years to come, the yields that we have been witnessing in plots that have the technology are expected to be much higher."
“如果农民继续将他们的作物残留物保留在土壤中……有机物就会堆积起来，”她说。 “因此，即使在未来五年内，我们在拥有该技术的地块中看到的产量预计也会更高。”
 
Apart from improving crop production, experts say the technology can also help reduce the effects of climate change.
除了提高作物产量外，该技术还可以帮助专家减少气候变化的影响。
 
"As you increase productivity, the crops are able to take carbon from the atmosphere and fix it into their biomass," Kuyah said. "You are able to lock it into the soil."
“当你提高生产力时，作物能够从大气中吸收碳并将其固定到它们的生物质中，”库亚说。 “你可以把它锁在土里。”
 
However, the new water retention technology has a high cost and requires a lot of labor. It costs as much as $2,000 to buy the membranes to cover one hectare of land.
然而，新的保水技术成本高，需要大量的劳动力。购买膜覆盖一公顷土地的成本高达 2,000 美元。