The northern part of the East African nation of Kenya is hot and gets little rain. The area has been suffering from periods of small amount of rainfalls and droughts, when almost no rain falls. This has been going on for many years. People who live there say the droughts are becoming more severe.
东非国家肯尼亚北部炎热并且降雨量少。该地区长期以来一直饱受干旱少雨之苦，其时几乎就没下雨。这已经持续了很多年。生活在这里的人们说，干旱越来越严重。

Herders are among those suffering the most. They are people who move with their animals from place to place. But over the past few years, many of the animals have died. The lack of rain has stopped the growth of grasses and other foods the animals eat.
牧民是其中受影响最大的一部分人。牧民们随着他们的牲畜到处游牧。但在过去几年里，许多动物已经死亡。雨水缺乏已经阻止了动物食用的草和其它食物的生长。

Many of the herders have no animals left, so they are forced to become farmers. In their culture, being a herder brings them power and respect. Farmers are not as respected as herders.
许多牧民都没有牲畜留下，所以他们被迫成为农民。在他们的文化中，作为牧民给予他们力量和尊重。农民不如牧民受尊重。

Ali Abdi was a herder. His family was considered wealthy. He had respect from people in his home district of Garissa, in northern Kenya. Mr. Abdi had about 100 goats. He moved when the seasons changed, searching for new places for the goats to eat. But in 2012 and 2013, little rain fell, and Mr. Abdi's world changed.
阿里·阿布迪(Ali Abdi)是一位牧民。他的家人被认为很富有。他在家乡肯尼亚北部加里萨地区很受尊重。阿布迪先生曾经有100只左右的山羊。当季节变化时他就迁徙，为山羊寻找新的牧场。但是2012年和2013年降雨很少，阿布迪先生的世界变了。

As the pastures dried up, he says, his animals lost weight, then started to die. By the end of the drought, more than two-thirds of his goats were gone. They were the only way he could feed his family.
他说，由于牧草枯死，他的牲畜变瘦，然后开始死亡。到了旱季末期，他三分之二以上的山羊都死了。山羊是他养家的唯一途径。

Ahmed Sheikh works at the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization. He says Mr. Abdi was not the only herder who suffered.
艾哈迈德·谢赫（Ahmed Sheikh）在肯尼亚农牧研究组织工作。他说阿布迪先生并非唯一受灾的牧民。

"Most people actually went into destitution. People who had 100 heads of cattle remained with 10, goats the same. The herd size is what makes pastoralism a bit economical, but once the herd size shrinks it becomes really uneconomical."
谢赫说，“实际上大多数人都走进了贫困。曾有着100头牛的人们只剩下10头牛，山羊也一样。让游牧很经济的是畜群规模，但是一旦畜群规模缩小，游牧就会变得相当不划算。”

This year drought has again hit Garissa, so Mr. Abdi made a difficult decision.
今年旱灾再次袭击加里萨地区，所以阿布迪先生做了一个艰难的决定。

Mr. Abdi and about twelve other men and women are trying to grow crops. The group prepared about three hectares of land using long knives.
阿布迪先生和另外12位男女正在试图种植农作物。这群人使用长刀清理出了三公顷土地。

It was so difficult that some of them thought it would be impossible. But now they are growing fruits and vegetables, including bananas, tomatoes, chilies and lemons.
这样做太难了，他们中的一些人认为这是不可能的。但现在他们开始种植水果和蔬菜，包括香蕉、番茄、辣椒和柠檬。

Some local people criticized Mr. Abdi for choosing to become a farmer.
一些当地人对阿布迪先生选择当农民提出了批评。

Mr. Abdi says his wife was unhappy, because in their society a man who farms is considered lowly and poor. This is still true, he says, even though he now makes more money from his farm than he did with his goats.
阿布迪先生表示，他的妻子不开心，因为在他们的社会中，男人务农被认为是卑贱和贫穷的。他说现在还是这样，即便他现在种地比以前放羊赚得更多。