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Oct 17, 2015 / 10:33

Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty

Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) held a ceremony to mark the 35th World Food Day (October 16) in northern Lao Cai province on October 15.

The theme of the 2015 World Food Day is “Social Protection and Agriculture: Breaking the Cycle of Rural Poverty”
Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh said the theme of 2015 World Food Day plays a significant role to Vietnam, especially when the country is striving to build hi-tech agriculture to ensure sustainable food security, rural modernisation, and poverty reduction.
Vietnam has about 10 million farm households with over 30 million rural workers, accounting for some 70% of the country’s labour force, Deputy Minister Doanh said, adding agriculture generates jobs and income for 46% of the population and contributes 20% to the national gross domestic product (GDP). 

 
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh makes a speech at the ceremony.
Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Le Quoc Doanh makes a speech at the ceremony.
From a food-imported country, Vietnam has become one of global leading exporters of farm produce such as rice, pepper, cashew nut, cassava, tea, rubber and seafood. 
The rate of hunger fell to 6% last year from 58% in 1993, while the ratio of malnourished people dropped to 11% in 2014-2016 from 45.6% in 1990-1992. 
The achievements which Vietnam gained in agriculture has been significantly ensuring food security and implementing the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals.
Vietnam is sparing no effort to establish a social welfare network to enable people from disadvantaged backgrounds to afford social insurance cards and access to social services by 2020, he added.
Vietnam is trying its best to establish a social welfare network to enable all people to afford social insurance cards and access to social services by 2020, Doanh stated.