I planted drought-tolerant seeds, fed and weighed chickens, and used a mobile phone to monitor weather forecasts and local crop prices.我种植了耐旱种子，给鸡喂食、称重，并用手机来监测天气预报和当地农作物价格。
These were a few of the chores I was given during my visit with Mary Mathuli, a smallholder farmer in rural Kenya.这些是我在拜访肯尼亚农村的小农户玛丽·马图利时被安排做的几项家务。
I stopped at her home in Makueni County, south-east of Nairobi, during my recent trip to Kenya to better understand how farmers like Mary are faring in the face of climate change.在我最近一次肯尼亚之行中，我造访了玛丽位于内罗毕东南部马库埃尼郡的家，以便更好地了解像她这样的农民是如何应对气候变化的。
I arrived expecting to hear her talk about the record droughts and smaller harvests many farmers are experiencing throughout Africa.我到达时，本以为会听到她谈论空前的干旱和非洲各地农民正在经历的歉收。
Instead, to my surprise, she led me out to her fields to show off the innovations that are allowing her to continue to grow crops and earn an income to support her family, despite the drastic changes in rainfall and weather patterns.但令我惊讶的是，她带我到她的田地里，向我展示了她的创新成果，尽管气候变化导致降雨量和天气模式发生了剧烈变化，但这些创新成果使她能够继续种植作物，养家糊口。
A natural teacher, Mary encouraged me to learn by doing. She put me to work so I could understand how these new agricultural inputs and practices can make a big difference in their lives.玛丽是一位天生的老师，她鼓励我在实践中学习。她给我几项家务去做，这样我就能了解这些新的农业投入和手段如何能够给他们的生活带来巨大的变化。
This experience taught me a couple important lessons.First, my farming skills—like holding a chicken and swinging a hoe—need some work.首先，我的耕作技能（比如抱只鸡和挥舞锄头）还需要一些锻炼。
Second, and more importantly, I got a personal reminder of how resourceful and resilient African smallholder farmers like Mary are. Battered by years of drought and other extreme weather patterns, they are developing new skills and embracing new technologies to adapt to some of the toughest conditions for growing crops and raising livestock.其次，更重要的是，我亲身体会到像玛丽这样的非洲的小农户是多么的富有智慧、坚韧、懂得变通。（尽管）经受了多年干旱和其他极端天气模式的打击，他们仍在开发新技能，接受新技术，以适应种植作物和饲养牲畜会面临的一些最为艰苦的条件。
To be clear, African farmers face huge challenges due to climate change. Although sub-Saharan Africa accounts for only about four percent of the world’s carbon emissions, the continent is bearing the brunt of climate change impacts. Climate-related losses on many African farms are more than double those seen globally. In Makueni County, where Mary farms, yields of maize have been falling since 1994, largely due to changes in the weather.需要明确的是，非洲农民面临着气候变化带来的巨大挑战。尽管撒哈拉以南非洲地区的碳排放量仅占全球的4%左右，但非洲大陆却首当其冲地受到气候变化的影响。许多非洲农场由气候问题带来的损失是世界其他地方的两倍多。在玛丽耕作的马库埃尼郡，玉米产量自1994年以来一直在下降，主要原因是天气的变化。
While more innovation is needed to help Africa’s smallholder farmers keep pace with the threats posed by climate change, Mary and other farmers in Kenya are adopting some incredible new tools and practices that can limit crop losses and help their farms thrive even in extreme weather:虽然需要更多的创新来帮助非洲的小农户应对气候变化带来的诸多威胁，但玛丽和肯尼亚的其他农民正在采用一些尤为杰出的新工具和方法，即使在极端天气下，也能限制农作物的损失并帮助他们的农场蓬勃发展。
Chickens: Our first stop at Mary’s farm was her chicken coop, where she promptly handed me a large hen to hold. Chickens serve as a kind of hedge against climate risks because they can provide a reliable source of income, even in times of extreme weather. She sells eggs and the adult chickens for meat at her local market. She also sells chicks to other farmers so they can raise their own flocks. What’s more, chickens (both the eggs and the meat) provide valuable nutrition to families, especially important for children.养鸡：我们造访玛丽农场的第一站是她的鸡舍，一到那里她就马上递给我一只大母鸡让我抱着。鸡可以作为一种对冲气候风险的工具，因为即使在极端天气下，它们也可以提供可靠的收入来源。她在当地市场上出售鸡蛋和成鸡的肉。她还把小鸡卖给其他农民，这样他们就可以培育自己的鸡群了。更重要的是，鸡（包括鸡蛋和鸡肉）为家庭提供了宝贵的营养，这对儿童来说尤为重要。
But, she added, adult chickens can only be sold when they weigh about 1.5 kilograms, a measurement that is made by instinct and not on a scale. She asked me to judge the weight of the chicken in my hands. I had a guess that it felt ready to go to market. Fortunately, I was right.但是，她补充道，成年鸡只有在大约1.5公斤重时才能出售，这是靠手感而非秤来称重。她让我判断手中的鸡有多重。我猜这只鸡已经可以拿去市场卖了。很幸运，我猜对了。
对于许多像玛丽这样的农民来说，鸡是一种对冲气候风险的工具。即使在极端天气下，它们也是肯尼亚家庭收入和营养的宝贵来源。Drought-tolerant seeds: Next, we walked out to Mary’s fields, where she handed me bags of improved seeds that can handle extreme weather conditions. Some of the most successful varieties have been developed by researchers at the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, an amazing organization that’s part of a global partnership called CGIAR that focuses on improving food security. Other drought-tolerant varieties have been developed by local partners like the Kenya Agriculture and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), whom I also had the pleasure of visiting in Nairobi.耐旱种子：接下来，我们走到玛丽的农田里，她递给我几袋经过改良、可以应对极端天气条件的种子。一些最成功的品种是由国际玉米小麦改良中心的研究人员研发的，该中心是一个了不起的组织，是国际农业研究协商小组（CGIAR）全球伙伴关系的一部分，专注于改善粮食安全。其他耐旱品种是由肯尼亚农业和畜牧业研究组织（KALRO）等当地合作伙伴开发的，我也有幸在内罗毕访问了这一组织。
Mary uses drought-tolerant maize seeds and bean seeds, which she invited me to plant with her. I helped her dig a square planting pit, about a foot deep, which conserves rainwater. Then we dropped in the seeds, covered them with soil, watered them, and added a thin layer of straw on top to help provide some protection from the heat.玛丽使用的就是这种耐旱的玉米种子和豆类种子，她邀请我和她一起播种。我帮她挖了一个方形的种植坑，大约一英尺深，这样可以囤积雨水。然后我们撒下种子，用土壤覆盖，浇水，并在上面盖了一层薄薄的稻草来帮助提供一些隔热保护。
左图：玛丽教我如何以节约用水的方式播种。右图：耐旱种子帮助农民在多变的气候条件下确保农作物的产能。Mobile phones: Asked about other innovations that have helped her, Mary pulled out her mobile phone. It’s an important tool for farmers to raise their productivity and increase their incomes through access to vital agriculture information and services. She directed me to an app on her phone where I could check the local weather. While local weather forecasts are common throughout much of the world, in rural Kenya and other remote parts of Africa, getting this vital information is sometimes difficult. Farmers can also use their phone to check market prices for crops and livestock, get knowledge and technical support to improve farm operations, and access financial services and insurance.手机：当被问及对她有帮助的其他创新时，玛丽拿出了她的手机。这是农民通过获取重要农业信息和服务来提高生产力并增加收入的重要工具。她指导我进入她手机上的一个应用程序，在那里我可以查看当地的天气。虽然当地天气预报在世界上大部分地区都很常见，但在肯尼亚农村和非洲其他偏远地区，获取这一重要信息有时却很困难。农民还可以用手机查看农作物和牲畜的市场价格、获得知识和技术支持以改善农场运作，并获得金融服务和保险。
我对了解手机对农民成功的重要性很有兴趣。玛丽和许多农民一样，用手机查看天气、农作物的市场价格等等。As farms go, Mary’s farm is quite small. Just about 4 acres, which is typical for farms in Africa. Still, she packs a lot of activities in this space, growing commercial and subsistence food crops and rearing poultry and livestock. In sub-Saharan Africa, more than half of the population works in agriculture. Together, they produce about 80 percent of the continent’s food supply. And most of the people doing the backbreaking farm work—like the chores I performed—are women.单就农场而言，玛丽的农场相当小，只有约4英亩大，这是非洲典型的农场面积。尽管如此，她在这一有限的空间里处理了大量农活，种植商业性和自给性粮食作物，并饲养家禽和牲畜。在撒哈拉以南非洲地区，一半以上的人口从事农业。这些农民提供了非洲大陆约80%的粮食供应。而大多数从事繁重农活的人（像我所做的那些家务）都是女性。
I was impressed by Mary’s entrepreneurial spirit and her optimism. She appeared to seize every opportunity to try out new technologies and agricultural practices. It’s one of the reasons why she was trained as a model farmer and Village Based Advisor by the Cereal Growers Association, an organization that works with smallholder farmers to help improve their productivity. In this role, Mary provides guidance to several hundred farmers in her community, showing them how to use drought-tolerant seeds, raise chickens, and adopt other climate adaptation agricultural strategies.玛丽的创业精神和乐观态度给我留下了深刻印象。她似乎抓住了每一个尝试新技术和农业实践的机会。这也是她被谷物种植者协会（CGA）培养为示范农民和村级顾问的原因之一，该协会与小农户合作，帮助他们提高生产力。在这个岗位上，玛丽为她所在社区的数百名农民提供指导，向他们展示如何使用耐旱种子、养鸡以及采取其他适应气候变化的农业策略。
She is clearly doing a good job in this role because more than 90 percent of farmers in her area have embraced one of the new adaptation practices.显然，她在这个岗位上做得很好，她所在地区90%以上的农民都接受了一种新的适应性做法。
I look forward to hearing how the seeds I planted with Mary are doing, despite the disappointing rains in recent months. I can’t imagine them in better hands than hers.尽管最近几个月的降雨不尽人意，我还是很期待获知我和玛丽一起种下的种子的情况。我想不到有谁比她更拥有一双巧手了。
Thanks so much for the visit, Mary!