Prudential Rice ATM in An Giang. Having gone through a tough year, Viet Nam nowadays stays strong and resilient with many real-life fairy tales of sharing care, love and support. Installing rice ‘ATMs’ was one of the most amazing initiatives to help needy people overcome hunger when the Covid-19 pandemic broke out. Leading insurer Prudential Vietnam will continue to install rice ATMs in many affected provinces this year. A machine that dispenses free rice has become a familiar sight to Vietnamese people these days. Those who need can come and get a bagful of rice from a small silo, while those who can help by donating rice or cash. This is how workers, street hawkers and people who earn a living from cash-in-hand jobs like housekeeping and selling lottery tickets overcome this most difficult period. Prudential has teamed up with Red Cross Vietnam to install the machines in various places around the country. It launched the programme on December 22 in the Mekong Delta … [Read more...] about Let no one succumb to hunger: Prudential installs rice ‘ATMs’ in many provinces
Hunger
From saving hunger to world’s best rice title
Great power comes from a small grain of rice On January 26, Vinaseed's shipment of 60 tonnes of premium fragrant rice, imported by Longdan in the UK, hit the shelves of the supermarket chain with a retail price of up to £15.5 (VND465,000) per 10 kg. Longdan is the first enterprise to import rice from Vietnam after the UK - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA) took effect. In the near future, there will be many enterprises importing Vietnamese rice under the agreement. Previously, on January 13, the first batch of 1,600 tonnes of rice, opening the 2021 export season of the Trung An Hi-tech Farming Joint Stock Company, was sent to Singapore and Malaysia at a price that could not be better, of up to US$750 per tonne. Pham Thai Binh, Director General of Trung An Hi-Tech Farming JSC, said the two types of rice exported in the shipment were Jasmine 85 fragrant rice and Huong Lai fragrant rice; of which, 450 tonnes of Jasmine 85 went to Singapore at US$680 per tonne and 1,150 tonnes … [Read more...] about From saving hunger to world’s best rice title
Wasting food: sign of a thoughtless society
Luu Dinh Long On every occasion that involves eating, people have the tendency to order more food than needed, and when eating at someone's home, the hosts usually offer as much food as possible to prove how hospitable they are.On festive occasions, the offerings made to ancestors are always excessive. Often they cannot be eaten after spending hours next to the burning incense. Besides, we have other food coming straight from the kitchen that is much more delicious.I have complained to my mother more than once about cooking too much food for offerings during the Lunar New Year since our family is small. But that would change nothing because my mother would do exactly the same the next year.I personally do not like weddings because I repeatedly see for myself how much food is wasted because too many dishes are served and not many people really enjoy them.Women, with all their makeup and beautiful clothes, do not want to spend too much time on food, while men are too busy drinking beer. … [Read more...] about Wasting food: sign of a thoughtless society
Bayer launches initiative to help underserved communities combat malnutrition
As a part of the company’s "Health for All, Hunger for None" vision, the program hopes to reach 50 million people in underserved communities per year by 2030 through direct action and in partnership with critical non-governmental organizations (NGOs), with a focus on intervention, education, and advocacy. The Nutrient Gap Initiative will enable access to everyday health for 100 million underserved people by 2030. According to Bayer's research, almost 50 percent of young women and adolescent girls in low- and middle-income countries have inadequate vitamin and mineral intake1 while at least half of children worldwide under age five suffer from this deficiency. The consequences of vitamin and mineral deficiencies worsen gradually over time, resulting in significant health consequences across the lifespan and ultimately exacerbates the cycle of poverty. "As a leader and expert in supplemental nutrition, we know how important these nutrients are to help ensure health for all, … [Read more...] about Bayer launches initiative to help underserved communities combat malnutrition
12.4 m people food insecure in war-torn Syria: WFP
A record 12.4 million people in war-torn Syria are struggling to find enough food to eat, the UN food agency has said, in an increase it described Saturday as "alarming". The figure means "60 percent of the Syrian population are now food insecure", the World Food Programme said, based on results of a nationwide assessment in late 2020. It marks a sharp increase from 9.3 million people who were food insecure in May last year. "More Syrians are slipping deeper into hunger, poverty and food insecurity than ever before," WFP spokeswoman Jessica Lawson told AFP. "It is alarming that a basic meal is now beyond the reach of the majority of families." Syria's almost ten-year-old war has ravaged the economy and sent inflation soaring across the country. In early 2021, food prices nationwide were 33 times higher than the five-year pre-war average, WFP says. A dire financial crisis in neighbouring Lebanon that has slowed dollar inflows and lockdowns to stem the spread of the … [Read more...] about 12.4 m people food insecure in war-torn Syria: WFP