Rwanda Agriculture Board (RAB), and the National Early Childhood Development Programme (NECDP) Tuesday, April 28, issued guidelines on provision of eggs to vulnerable children.
The instructions are based on a resolution of a Cabinet meeting held on April 24, which decided that Government buys eggs from poultry farmers who lost their market due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Each child will be allotted three eggs per week. The beneficiaries are under early childhood development programme.
According to the instructions, the Government will be buying a raw egg at Rwf60. Normally, an egg goes for between Rwf70 and Rwf80, according to farmers.
Dr. Anita Asiimwe, NECDP National Coordinator told The New Times that the exercise has two objectives: to ensure that farmers do not incur losses and to improve child nutrition.
"We know that animal-source protein is one of the children’s nutritional needs. So, we took the decision to distribute the eggs among them so that we provide them with a nutritious diet,” she said.
Andrew Butare, the Chairperson of Rwanda Poultry Industry Association told The New Times that the Government’s move was timely, pointing out that though the price is relatively low compared to the investment that a poultry farmer makes, it saves them from losses.
He said that the lockdown halted hotels, restaurants, individual buyers, and different institutions including schools, which were the main customers of poultry products.
"Because of the lockdown, some people lost their source of income, and as a result, they are opting for staple foods such as maize meal, beans and rice. They are not very interested in animal source food such as eggs or meat,” he said.
Butare said that, so far, more than 1.6 million eggs in 16 districts of the country lack buyers.
Jean Baptiste Musabyimana, a poultry farmer in Bugesera District told The New Times that he has been selling about half of 60,000 eggs he produces from his 70,000-poultry farm per day because of the COVID-19 that has contracted the egg market.
In addition, he said the price has gone down from Rwf80 to Rwf60. "Low prices and lack of buyers are posing a challenge to poultry entrepreneurs as they are obliged to continue spending money on feed to keep chickens alive and productive,” he said pointing out that the cost of production is high.
It is to note that the rate of stunting among children under five is 38 per cent in Rwanda, according to the recent Demographic Health Survey published in 2014/2015.
Statistics from RAB indicate that Rwanda’s chicken population increased by 9 per cent per year from 3.5 million in 2010 to 7.6 million in 2018.
The total egg production from Rwanda’s poultry is expected to increase from Rwf244 million in 2017 to Rwf513 million by 2022, as per the livestock sector masterplan developed by the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources in December 2017.