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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development
Rural Outreach Program
ISSN: 1684-5358 EISSN: 1684-5358
Vol. 20, No. 4, 2020, pp. 16013-16028
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Bioline Code: nd20053
Full paper language: English
Document type: Research Article
Document available free of charge
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African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development, Vol. 20, No. 4, 2020, pp. 16013-16028
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POULTRY INTERVENTIONS AND CHILD NUTRITIONAL STATUS IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES
Omer, A
Abstract
Poultry production with the majority of free-range chickens is widely practiced in rural
communities of low-income countries. Chickens and their eggs are important sources of
income and food for the family. Eggs are nutritious with high quality protein and several
macro-and micro-nutrients. Evidences showed that increased consumption of eggs
improved the nutritional status of children under the age of two years. Projects aimed at
increased egg intake among infants and young children have been implemented with
different models and approaches, resulting in different outcomes. This paper reviewed
the effectiveness of interventional studies in increasing egg intake among infants and
young children in low-income countries. A total of eight articles were selected using
PubMed and Google Scholar search engines with inclusion criteria of interventions with
randomized and controlled study design that measured egg intake among children under
the age of two years in low income countries, published in the last five years (from 2015
to 2019) and written in English. The interventions were systematically classified into
three categories based on their implementation model: agriculture/poultry only, nutrition
education only, and integrated poultry and nutrition interventions. All the models showed
increased egg intake with different levels of significance. Poultry only interventions were
successful in egg production in excess quantity increasing egg consumption of infants
and young children. However, the interventions were challenged by caregivers’ priority
for income from the sale of the eggs and birds than feeding the children. Hence, egg
intake did not increase high enough to the level of an-egg-a-day despite production and
availability. Promoting egg for complementary feeding, interventions of nutrition
education only resulted in significantly increased egg intake among children under the
age of two years. Nevertheless, its sustainability might be challenged as it requires
buying eggs every time, creating an economic burden to the rural low-income families.
The third model integrated poultry and nutrition interventions, significantly increased
egg consumption even with small scale poultry using local chickens by improving
nutrition awareness of caregivers and increasing egg availability at household level,
demonstrating greater potential of sustainability. Poultry interventions targeting
increased egg intake among infants and young children in low-income countries need to
be integrated with nutrition education for maximum effect with minimal cost. Moreover,
the implementation of strategies to reduce chicken excreta contamination of the
environment is equally important for the children to benefit the maximum from increased
egg intake.
Keywords
egg intake; poultry; nutrition education; egg-a-day; low-income countries
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