Global Zero Hunger  Challenge

The Zero Hunger Challenge (ZHC) was launched by the United Nations Secretary-General at the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable Development in Brazil in June 2012. It called on all societies in the world to join forces to end hunger and achieve sustainable development with the five objectives (i) 100% access to adequate food all year round,(ii) Zero stunted children under 2 years, (iii) All food systems are sustainable, (iv) 100% growth in smallholder productivity and income, particularly for women  and (v)  Zero loss or waste of food, including responsible consumption.

In December 2013 the UN Regional Thematic Working Group on Poverty and Hunger, chaired by FAO and co-chaired by UNDP and ESCAP, prepared a Regional Guiding Framework for Achieving Zero Hunger in Asia and the Pacific through extensive multi-stakeholder consultations. This Framework, which was endorsed in December 2013 by the Ministerial Conference on Regional Economic Cooperation and Integration in Asia and the Pacific convened by ESCAP, is intended to assist UN Member States in the region in formulating and implementing national zero hunger initiatives. 

National Action Plan for Zero Hunger in Viet Nam

Vietnam’s per-capita GDP more than trebled between 1991 and 2012 and the prevalence of poverty, undernourishment and malnutrition also declined sharply. The undernourished proportion of the population declined to about 8 in 2011-13 from 47 percent 20 years earlier, while the proportion of children under 5 years of age who were stunted or underweight declined to about one-third of their levels of 20 years level. These are remarkable achievements.

Nevertheless much remains to be done if hunger is to be eradicated over the next decade or so. Access to food remains problematic for many households, especially those living in rural areas and mountainous areas, where poverty can be severe. About 1 out of 8 Vietnamese children are still underweight and 1 out of 4 stunted. Assuring the sustainability of Vietnam’s food system remains problematic. A key part of any solution to this issue is achieving reductions in food loss and waste. Smallholders with limited access to productive assets including land, make up the majority of farmers. Achieving sustainable increases in their productivity is indispensable for achieving increases in their incomes.

The goal of achieving zero hunger by 2025 is shared by the Government of Vietnam. In order to fulfil its goal, the Government of Vietnam has sought FAO's technical assistance to formulate a National Action Plan to respond to the ZHC.

The overall objective of this project is to formulate a National Action Plan for the Zero Hunger Challenge that provides a basis for eradicating hunger and malnutrition in Vietnam by 2025, while contributing to the Socio-Economic Development Plan 2016-2020, in particular its two National Target Programmes (NTPs): (i) Sustainable Poverty Reduction and (ii) New Rural Development