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The Uni
ted Nations says more than 900 million people worldwide do not have enough to eat.Officials
say 100 million more could go hungry this year because of the food and financial crises.
To deal with the situation, the UN World Food Program has started a project to help small farmers.
These farmers are mainly women.Many cannot produce enough food even to feed and support their own
families.
The new effort is called Purchase for Progress, or P4P.It aims to connect local farmers with
dependable markets.That way, they could get a chance to sell their surplus (剩余) at competitive prices
.P4P will be tested in as many as 21 countries during the next five years.
The biggest contributor to the project is Bill Gates, through the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Another donor (捐款者) is the Howard Buffett Foundation, led by a son of the American investor
Warren Buffett.The government of Belgium is also supporting the project in a former colony (殖民地),
now the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Together these donors have provided more than 76 million dollars for projects in Africa and Central
America.
Purchase for Progress will work with United Nations agencies, governments and nongovernmental
organizations to help increase crop production.The World Bank Group and other partners are to help
train farmers in better crop management and marketing skills.
The World Food Program says it expects to buy 40,000 tons of food in the first year using methods
carried out by the project.That will be enough to feed 250,000 people.
P4P is expected to develop food cooperatives and longterm agreements for buying corn, wheat and
other food cro
ps.About 350,000 farmers could be assisted.
Officials say the project will change the way the World Food Program buys food in developing
countries.Executive Director Josette Sheeran says this is the first time her agency will buy a large amount
of food from small farmers.The agency has traditionally bought most of its food from developing
countries, but through larger trading organizations.
1. From the passage, we know that________.
A. in all 900 million people worldwide lack food
B. a project has been started to help women farmers
C. there are only two donors to help the project
D. some farmers
still cannot support their families
2. According to the passage, ________will work hard to deal with the situation.
A. the United Nations
B. the combined efforts
C. some governments
D. some nongovernmental organizations
3. Which of the following will NOT be done to help small farmers?
A. To donate money.
B. To reform the way of food purchase.
C. To provide them with food.
D. To buy a large amount of food from them.
4. What's the best title for this passage?
A. Project to Help Small Farmers
B. Contribution to Small Farmers
C. Food Problems
D. P4P Is Being Carried Out