HCM CITY — A charity organisation called Foodbank Việt Nam was launched on Saturday to distribute food to deprived people and reduce food wastage.

Foodbank is a programme by the Việt Nam Council of the Red Cross in collaboration with the Youth Social Welfare Centre, C.P. Việt Nam Livestock Corporation, and DSF Việt Nam Co.Ltd.

It operates along the lines of food banks around the world, soliciting donation of food from companies and organisations and handing over whatever it gets to needy people.

To start with, Foodbank Việt Nam is providing free food to 10 social welfare centres and shelters in HCM City. It will soon expand throughout the country.

It also plans to set up a chain of standard food stalls which will sell to poor and disadvantaged people at low prices.

There will be activities to educate people about not wasting food.

According to the Food and Agriculture Organisation, hunger is still one of the most urgent development challenges though the world is producing more than enough food.

One third of food produced for human consumption, amounting to around 1.3 billion tonnes, is lost or wasted every year, FAO had said in 2011.

Food losses represent a waste of resources used for production such as land, water, energy, and farm inputs and a needess increase in green gas emissions, it had said.

Việt Nam ranked second in the food waste index in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a survey conducted by Electrolux.

Chinoros Benjachavakul, deputy general director of C.P. Việt Nam Livestock Corporation, said the food bank would help prevent wastage of food in Việt Nam. —VNS