BEIJING -- The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said Thursday that this year it has allocated subsidies totaling 26.69 billion yuan (about $4 billion) to help farmers living in unsafe homes to renovate.

The subsidies will cover 3.14 million poor rural households, under a national pilot program for renovating unsafe houses in rural areas, the MOF said in a statement.

The MOF said that local governments must determine the allocation of subsidies for the rural housing program according to local economic needs.

The pilot program started in China's southwestern Guizhou Province in 2008.