Begun by the Government of Bhutan with the support of FAO, the One-Child, One-Egg initiative links smallholder poultry farmers directly with school feeding programmes, tackling malnutrition in children while creating a stable market for rural producers.
\nRome April 1, On a track that is easy to miss, winding through the thick trees of Bhutan\u2019s forested hills, Tenzin Drukpa and Pampa Maya Tamange deliver stacks and stacks of trays brimming with eggs to 15 different primary schools in their districts of Thimphu and Chhukha.
\nTenzin and Pampa make the journey every month, connecting their hillside farm to hundreds of children’s lunch plates \u2014 children for whom the school meal may be the most nutritious food they receive that day.
\nLinking smallholder poultry farmers directly with school feeding programmes and tackling malnutrition in children while creating a stable market for rural producers is an initiative begun by the Royal Government of Bhutan with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Known as the One-Child, One-Egg (OCOE) initiative, the two-year pilot currently supplies eggs to 32 000 students in 343 schools across the country.
\nIn Bhutan, nearly one in five children under five is stunted, about nine percent are underweight and more than one-third of adolescent girls suffer from anaemia. Eggs are among the most nutrient-dense foods available. They are rich in protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals that are essential for brain development, physical growth and immune function in children.
\nStudents have said that they have noticed improved health and greater energy at school, while teachers reported that students appeared more attentive in class since the programme began.
\nOn the other side of the equation is Tenzin, who started his poultry operation in 2018 and has known what it means to lose almost everything. When COVID-19 hit, egg prices collapsed and unsold trays piled up in his sheds. Then in 2023, a feed toxin outbreak swept through his flock, killing 2 700 birds and leaving him with an estimated loss of BTN 3.6 million-around USD 43 000.
\nHe did not walk away. An economic stimulus loan from the government gave him the footing to rebuild and expand. The egg market gradually recovered, and when OCOE arrived, it brought something harder to put a price on: a reliable buyer. Today his sheds hold 4 000 birds, and the steady clucking of hens mixes with the clatter of egg trays bound for nearby schools.
\n“The egg market was erratic before,” Tenzin says. “This initiative gave us an opportunity. Now, we know the schools need us.”
\nNearly one in five Bhutanese children under five is stunted, about nine percent are underweight and more than one-third of adolescent girls suffer from anaemia.
\nimilar changes and connections are happening in southwestern Bhutan as farmers respond to reliable school demand. In Samtse district, near the border with India, 37-year-old Ganesh Bdr Ghalley often sold eggs at a loss but now supplies them to two schools serving over 200 students. \u201cI have two children in school,\u201d he says. \u201cSupplying eggs is also goodwill.\u201d
\nFurther east also in Samtse district, Dependra and Sabitra Gurung run a poultry farm where their 750 hens supply eggs to a nearby primary school serving 300 students. \u201cThis initiative has helped us with assured markets,\u201d says Dependra. \u201cWe are self-sufficient now.\u201d
\nThe OCOE two-year pilot currently supplies eggs to 32 000 students in 343 schools across Bhutan. The programme is also training more than 280 cooks across 20 districts, equipping them with new recipes and food-safety practices.
\nEggs on the school menu
\nAt Soeltapsa Primary School, a cluster of low classroom buildings sits above a small schoolyard engulfed by thick green hills. The school serves children from nearby villages scattered across the surrounding Samtse district\u2019s countryside. Before the OCOE initiative, cooks rarely included eggs in school lunches.
\n\u201cEggs have become an important part of the children’s diet in school,\u201d says Karma, an egg supplier and member of the Soeltapsa women\u2019s group. “Before OCOE, we did not supply eggs, it was not part of the meal.\u201d
\nFor school cooks preparing meals for dozens of children at a time, boiled eggs have always made the most sense \u2014 simple, quick, reliable. But children notice when the menu never changes, and they had begun to say so. The programme responded by training more than 280 cooks across 20 districts, equipping them not just with new recipes but with stronger food-safety practices to match.
\nThe difference shows up at the pan. Cooks who once worked almost exclusively with boiling water are now saut\u00e9ing garlic and onion, folding eggs and potatoes through hoentshey \u2014 Bhutan’s wild spinach-to make gongdo hoentshey, a scramble fragrant with chilli.
\nOthers are preparing egg paa: whole, boiled eggs slow-cooked in a richly spiced base of tomato, ginger and garlic, served with golden-fried potato wedges and finished with green chillies and coriander. The government has also increased the school meals stipend from BTN 1 500 to BTN 3 100 per child (about USD 38), reflecting the programme\u2019s expanded scope.
\nBack on his hillside farm in Damchu, Tenzin thinks about what comes next. Better access to chicks, improved sheds and fair pricing, he believes, could help farmers expand production further while helping children grow stronger, building a healthy new generation. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Begun by the Government of Bhutan with the support of FAO, the One-Child, One-Egg initiative links smallholder poultry farmers directly with school feeding programmes, tackling malnutrition in children while creating a stable market for rural producers. Rome April 1, On a track that is easy to miss, winding through the thick trees of Bhutan\u2019s forested […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":247,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246\/revisions\/248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/krishijournal.com.np\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}