Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung attended a ceremony and a conference tolaunch a national action programme for the “Zero Hunger Challenge,”initiated by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, on January14.
The anti-hunger initiative, first introduced byKi-moon during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) inBrazil in June, 2012, calls on every nation to work together toeliminate hunger and work towards sustainable development.
The “Zero Hunger Challenge” has five main objectives: zero stuntedchildren less than two years old; 100 percent access to adequate foodall year round; all food systems are sustainable; 100 percent increasein smallholder productivity and income; zero loss or waste of food.
The Fund and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)-supported programme will be implemented from 2016 to 2025.
Addressing the ceremony, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said although global foodproduction has seen remarkable progress, food security is still achallenge in the Asia-Pacific region, which produces only 50 percent offood in the world but is home to over 60 percent of world’s population.
Currently, as many as 805 million people are belowthe poverty line, while more than 160 million children under five aremalnourished and another 2 billion people are going hungry due to a lackof necessary nutrients, he said.
Meanwhile,decreases in the surface area and quality of agricultural land coupledwith growing negative climate change impacts also pose significantobstacles to ensuring food security for the ever-expanding 7 billionpeople around the world, emphasised the Government leader.
He highlighted that Vietnam values and supports the UN Secretary General’s anti-hunger initiative and its goals.
With a modest land area of 33 million hectares, only 10.3 millionhectares of which are suitable for agriculture, Vietnam facessubstantial challenges in feeding its own population, which reached 90million in 2013 and has grown by an additional million each year, saidthe PM.
The country imported more than 1 milliontonnes of food annually during the 1980’s when nearly 70 percent of itspopulation was facing hunger and poverty.
However,thanks to reform efforts, Vietnam has risen to a middle-incomedeveloping country and one of world largest rice exporters, he noted,adding that in 2014, the country shipped more than 6.5 million tonnes ofrice and a large number of agro-forestry and fisheries products abroad,valued at nearly 31 billion USD, said the PM.
Thecountry boasts a current poverty rate of only 7.6 percent, having metnearly all the Millennium Development Goals, and with a GDP growth of 7percent annually over the past three decades, he reiterated.
However, the leader maintained that Vietnam ’s agriculture sectorstill faces challenges, including low global competitiveness and climatechange impacts.
To cope with these challenges,Vietnam is implementing two key programmes aiming to build new-stylerural areas and restructuring the agriculture sector together with aseries of complementary measures, he noted.
He alsotook the occasion to thank the UN and its associated bodies as well asthe international community for assisting the country during itssocio-economic development, pledging that Vietnam will continuesupporting and working with the UN in realising sustainable developmentgoals.
Speaking at the event, Hiroyuki Konuma, FAOAssistant Director-General and Regional Representative for theAsia-Pacific, vowed to provide technical support to help Vietnamsuccessfully complete the “Zero Hunger Challenge”.
Meanwhile, Pratibha Mehta, UNDP Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, saidthe UNDP commits to continue supporting Vietnam in implementing theprogramme and the “One UN” initiative.-VNA
The anti-hunger initiative, first introduced byKi-moon during the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) inBrazil in June, 2012, calls on every nation to work together toeliminate hunger and work towards sustainable development.
The “Zero Hunger Challenge” has five main objectives: zero stuntedchildren less than two years old; 100 percent access to adequate foodall year round; all food systems are sustainable; 100 percent increasein smallholder productivity and income; zero loss or waste of food.
The Fund and Agriculture Organisation (FAO)-supported programme will be implemented from 2016 to 2025.
Addressing the ceremony, PM Nguyen Tan Dung said although global foodproduction has seen remarkable progress, food security is still achallenge in the Asia-Pacific region, which produces only 50 percent offood in the world but is home to over 60 percent of world’s population.
Currently, as many as 805 million people are belowthe poverty line, while more than 160 million children under five aremalnourished and another 2 billion people are going hungry due to a lackof necessary nutrients, he said.
Meanwhile,decreases in the surface area and quality of agricultural land coupledwith growing negative climate change impacts also pose significantobstacles to ensuring food security for the ever-expanding 7 billionpeople around the world, emphasised the Government leader.
He highlighted that Vietnam values and supports the UN Secretary General’s anti-hunger initiative and its goals.
With a modest land area of 33 million hectares, only 10.3 millionhectares of which are suitable for agriculture, Vietnam facessubstantial challenges in feeding its own population, which reached 90million in 2013 and has grown by an additional million each year, saidthe PM.
The country imported more than 1 milliontonnes of food annually during the 1980’s when nearly 70 percent of itspopulation was facing hunger and poverty.
However,thanks to reform efforts, Vietnam has risen to a middle-incomedeveloping country and one of world largest rice exporters, he noted,adding that in 2014, the country shipped more than 6.5 million tonnes ofrice and a large number of agro-forestry and fisheries products abroad,valued at nearly 31 billion USD, said the PM.
Thecountry boasts a current poverty rate of only 7.6 percent, having metnearly all the Millennium Development Goals, and with a GDP growth of 7percent annually over the past three decades, he reiterated.
However, the leader maintained that Vietnam ’s agriculture sectorstill faces challenges, including low global competitiveness and climatechange impacts.
To cope with these challenges,Vietnam is implementing two key programmes aiming to build new-stylerural areas and restructuring the agriculture sector together with aseries of complementary measures, he noted.
He alsotook the occasion to thank the UN and its associated bodies as well asthe international community for assisting the country during itssocio-economic development, pledging that Vietnam will continuesupporting and working with the UN in realising sustainable developmentgoals.
Speaking at the event, Hiroyuki Konuma, FAOAssistant Director-General and Regional Representative for theAsia-Pacific, vowed to provide technical support to help Vietnamsuccessfully complete the “Zero Hunger Challenge”.
Meanwhile, Pratibha Mehta, UNDP Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, saidthe UNDP commits to continue supporting Vietnam in implementing theprogramme and the “One UN” initiative.-VNA
