One-Egg-Per-Child Programme Could Fight Rural Poverty

from All Africa

New Vision (Kampala)

By Joshua Kato
Kampala

EGGS are nutritious, and in a bid to increase the consumption of eggs, the Poultry Association of Uganda (PAU) is calling upon the Government of Uganda to introduce eggs into the school feeding programme. This, according to research, can create a huge internal market for local eggs, increase farmers' earnings and fight poverty in rural areas.

"Eggs can be produced all over the country, irrespective of region or climate," says Agha Ssekalala Sr, the managing director Uga-chick Poultry Breeders.

The proposal is to start with at least three eggs per week for every child. Each egg will cost sh150, adding up to sh5,400 for a full term.

Basing on 7.3 million children under the Universal Primary Education programme, assuming there are 250 school days in a year, 61,284,608 trays of eggs would be required. To meet this demand, 8,457,300 layers would be needed from local hatcheries. "This will raise the market for layer chicks," says Dr Flavio Oliviera of PAU. At the moment, there are around 3 million hybrid chicken, inclusive of layers and broilers.

Farmers who produce raw materials used for making chicken feed will also benefit. For this project, feed mills will have to produce 21,143 tonnes of chick and duck mash, 54,972 tonnes of growers feed and 14,407 tonnes of layer mash per year.

"Over 490,522 tonnes of locally produced materials are needed. Maize alone at an inclusion rate of 30% in feed would be 147,156 tonnes," Oliviera says.

At the moment, most big producers of eggs are found in the central region, according to statistics. The central region has got 2.3 million exotic chicken, including around 1.5 million layers. The eastern region follows with around 0.84 million exotic chicken, the west 0.416 million, while the north has the lowest with only 49,000.

To keep 200 chicken, a farmer would need at least sh1m to set up a small shelter and sh0.2m to buy the layer chicks. Although many prospective farmers in the village might not have this amount of money, the Government can assist them through the various poverty alleviation projects, like Bonna Baggawale.

"The Bonna Bagaggwale funds can be channelled into this campaign and there will be immediate impact," Ssekalala says. The other option would be to channel the rejuvenated National Agricultural Advisory Services funds into the programme next year.

If an average farmer rears at least 200 layers, a total of 42,286 people across the country will be directly employed in the poultry sector. Each of these farmers would be producing three trays of eggs per day, earning around sh10,000

In nutrition content, an egg has 13.2% protein, 11.1% fats, 0.65% energy and 0.9% minerals. The largest advantage of eggs is that they cannot be contaminated. An egg is also easy to store and can last much longer.

"Eggs, unlike milk, cannot be tampered with. For example, by adding water to it," says Oliviera.

"Schools do not need refrigerators to store eggs," he adds.

According to the minister of state for trade, Gagawala Wambuzi, the plan is one of the most elaborate and appealing he has ever seen. "This is something that we have got to consider as government. It is in line with the Government's fight against poverty," he says. He took the proposal to cabinet and later, it may be discussed in Parliament.