ASIA/VIETNAM - Agricultural reforms will help country reach MDG to reduce hunger by 2015

Wednesday, 15 September 2010

Hanoi (IRIN) – A new Oxfam report highlights Vietnam's performance in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal of halving hunger and reducing poverty five years ahead of the 2015 target. "Vietnam's track record is one of the best in the world. They are absolutely a role model within East Asia and more broadly in the world," Steve Price-Thomas, Oxfam's Vietnam country director, said in a declaration. Vietnam has cut hunger and reduced poverty from about 58 percent of the population in 1993 to just 18 percent today. By focusing on agricultural land reform, Vietnam has made land distribution more equitable, invested heavily in irrigation and agricultural technology and maintained restrictions on rice exports until 2001, nurturing the domestic industry.
The FAO reports that the number of hungry people worldwide has dropped, for the first time in 15 years, from 1.23 billion in 2009 to 925 million. However, famine is still an issue and a child dies every six seconds of malnutrition. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 15/9/2010)


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