Vietnam Reports 658,800 Hungry Families in Jan-Aug

Vietnam reported a total of 658,800 families with 2.52 million people, equaling to 2.94% of its population, suffering from hunger in the eight months of this year, the General Statistics Office said. In Aug, the country recorded 30,600 households with 129,400 hungry locals, up 16.35% and 5.81% on-month, respectively. The government and organizations have provided 24,700 tons of food and VND11.8 billion for the needy people since early this year. Vietnam reported 676,500 families with more than 2.9 million people in hunger last year, falling 29.4% and 26.2% from 2008, respectively. (GSO Aug)