Vietnam Reports 688,400 Hungry Families in Jan-Sept

Vietnam reported a total of 688,400 families with 2.65 million people, equaling to 3.06% of its population, suffering from hunger in the first nine months of 2010, the General Statistics Office said. The hungers are mainly from northern mountainous and central coastal provinces as well as those in the central highlands region. 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 36,400 tons of food and nearly VND12 billion for the needy people so far this year. (GSO Sept Edition)