The Vietnamese prime minister Sept 5 asked the Ministry of Finance to provide 3,070 tons of rice from the national reserves for hunger relief in the central province of Quang Nam. Beneficiaries who are suffering from loss in the 2010-2011 winter-spring rice crop are in dire need of food. The deputy PM has asked local authorities to properly use the rice and submit report to the Ministries of Finance and Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs. In May, the PM also decided to allocate nearly 5,000 tons of rice from the national reserves to help poor households in the between-crop period in the five provinces of Kon Tum, Ha Giang, Lao Cai, Yen Bai and Gia Lai. Vietnam reported 18,800 hungry families in Aug, with 84,900 starveling people, down 38.6% and 34.3% on year, respectively, the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO) said. (baodientu.chinhphu.vn Sept 5)
