Students at Dao Vien Primary School in Yen Son District of the northern mountainous province of Tuyen Quang take part in a morning exercise session. (Photo:VNA) Hanoi (VNA) - Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has issued a NationalAction Programme on Zero Hunger, aiming to ensureenough food and nutrition for all citizens.
The programme ispart of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal No 2 which focuses onsustainable solutions to eradicate hunger in all its forms by 2030 and toachieve food security.
The programmeprioritises the reduction of malnutrition among children under two by 2025.
More specifically,a target has been set to reduce the ratio of children under two who are a lowheight for their age (stunted) to less than 20 percent across most of the country, and 25 percent for children inmountainous areas in the northern and Central Highland regions.
The target forchildren under two who are a low weight for their height or a low weight fortheir age has been set at below 5 percent.
Social policies tosupport pregnant women and provide children with adequate nutrition are alsoincluded in the programme.
Under the NationalAction Programme on Zero Hunger, to develop a sustainable food system, farmersshould become members of co-operatives and production chains to allowsmall-scale farming households to enjoy increased productivity and incomes andavoid waste through the use of new technologies.
Improving naturaldisaster forecasting and warnings is also one of the targets.
Funding will besourced from the national programme on poverty reduction, and is expected tocost over 545 billion VND (23.7 million USD), including nearly 34 billion VND (1.5million USD) for the first phase from 2018-20, and over 511 billion VND (22.2million USD) for the second phase from 2021-25.
According to theMinistry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Vietnam’s poverty rate fell from46.9 percent in 1990-92 to 9 percent in 2010-12.
The number of poorhouseholds nationwide had fallen to 7 percent at the end of 2017, according tothe Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs.
According to the Food andAgriculture Organisation, Vietnam had achieved the first phase of SustainableDevelopment Goal No 2 by cutting its poverty rate by half in 2015, and lookingto address poverty as a whole by 2020.
However, malnutrition remains a bigproblem, especially in rural and mountainous areas.
The Zero Hunger Challenge waslaunched by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2012. The ZeroHunger vision reflects five elements from within the sustainable developmentgoals, which taken together, can end hunger, eliminate all forms ofmalnutrition, and build inclusive and sustainable food systems. -VNA
