Hunger

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 province of An Giang with support from the local Red Cross unit. Machines were installed in six communes in Long Xuyen, and thousands of people living in difficult circumstances are expected to benefit from them. Looking back upon the early phase of Covid-19 and the unending storms over the central coast, tonnes of free rice was quickly dispensed to people in badly affected areas like Da Nang, Thua Thien Hue, Quang Nam, Quang Tri, and Quang Binh by Prudential volunteers. Besides the company’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Emergency Response Fund, the money for this mainly came from employees and agents. Every individual extends their helps to make every contribution counted. It was a month of tragedy with the places barely recovering from the economic impacts of a renewed outbreak of the pandemic before they were hit by historic floods and landslides brought about by a succession of storms. Thua Thien Hue was severely hit and suffered great loss of life and property. As soon as …

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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. As a result, weddings are where people waste food the most."This is to safeguard our reputation [of being hospitable]," "This is a once-in-a-lifetime occasion," "Just relaxed..." People always have reasons for why they want lots of food at a feast, and not many seem to agree that wasting food is unconscionable.For every 10 tons of waste produced in Vietnam, five to eight tons are biodegradable organic waste, most of it food, according to a World Bank estimate.‘The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World,’ a report released in July 2020 by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, estimated that almost 690 million people went hungry in 2019, 10 million more than in 2018 and nearly 60 million more than in 2014.Across the planet, the report forecast, the Covid-19 pandemic could tip over 130 million more people into chronic hunger by the end of 2020.It also said high costs and low affordability mean billions of others could not eat healthy or …

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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, particularly for vulnerable populations who need it most, like underserved women and children," said Heiko Schipper, president of the Consumer Health Division of Bayer AG and member of the Board of Management. "Having a healthy baby is a concern for every parent and parent-to-be everywhere around the world and through The Nutrient Gap Initiative, we plan on creating programs that would help give babies the best start in life today and for generations to come." The Nutrient Gap Initiative will begin with a focus on pregnant women and babies The company’s work will begin with a focus on pregnant women and babies, given they are among the most vulnerable and need even more support due to the impact of Covid-19. Preventing vitamin and mineral deficiencies early in pregnancy can help mitigate poor pregnancy outcomes, including stunted growth and impaired neurological development, which lead to long-term health and economic consequences for individuals and societies. Bayer is …

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