The benefits of egg consumption are well-known, but without assistance, many in the developing world will never benefit from the advantages that egg production can bring, not only to health and nutrition but also to local economies.
In 54 countries around the world, per capita egg consumption stands at less than 1 per week, according to latest data, published pre-COVID, from the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Thirty-eight of these 54 countries are in Africa, 12 are in Asia and four in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Even more worrisome is that, in 12 of the African countries, people consume less than one egg per month. It is not hard to imagine that eating an egg in one of these countries must be quite a treat - especially for children.
Africa currently represents 17% of the global population but only 4.1% of global egg production. In contrast, North America accounts for 8.7% of the global egg output to feed only 4.8% of the global population.
Given the tremendous potential of eggs to alleviate growth stunts in young children and fight malnutrition, these statistics really ought to encourage us to do more in terms of egg production and consumption in emerging markets – especially in Africa.
Helping the smallholder
Small farmers are still the main providers of eggs in many emerging economies, but they face multiple challenges.
High flock mortality rates, up to 50%, have discouraged many entrepreneurial farmers. High mortality is not only due to diseases that could be prevented by proper vaccination, but also to a lack of good management practices. Given this, one the first steps to boost local production should be raising local producers’ knowledge.
The International Egg Foundation’s recently published Production Manual for Emerging Commercial Egg Producers is a welcome addition to the tools available to small farmers. Additionally, the proliferation of free webinars and ever-increasing access to internet in remote rural areas should also help farmers adopt new husbandry skills.
Critical inputs, such as vaccines and quality feeds, are available, but too often are not at an accessible price. Consolidating the needs of small farmers, however, through cooperatives would help, as would boosting the capacity of egg producers’ organizations in many emerging countries.
Convincing local farmers to work together to expand the market rather than competing against each other for the existing small demand for eggs may be an uphill battle, but the possibility remains. Kenya, Zimbabwe and Malawi, for example, are known to have well-established feed mills and strong breeder/hatchery players. This would allow them to not only to provide quality day-old chicks and feeds locally, but also boost the export of shell eggs to neighboring countries. Farmers’ markets in Northern Mozambique are well stocked with eggs from Malawi and Zimbabwe - at the expense of local producers.
Addressing only production, however, will fail to boost egg consumption.
Boosting consumption
Efforts must also be made at various levels to boost egg consumption or raise the risks of disappointing egg farmers that are producing more eggs than the market can take.
The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) clearly understood this point when it initiated its national campaign in Mozambique, one of the countries where per capita egg consumption is less than one a month, under the theme “Eggs give more! Add eggs to your meal!!”
In addition to distributing nutritional information about eggs, both to health professionals and to consumers, taboos must be addressed. For instance, the 2016 Dietary Food Guide from Sierra Leone lists a few taboos for eggs, including that their consumption can lead to spontaneous abortion, stillbirth, premature birth, skin cracks and flaking in children, and, that the child will steal.
We have the expertise to boost egg consumption in emerging countries – let us use it!
