Students across Bhutan will now receive an egg each day as part of the ‘One-Child, One-Egg’ initiative, which aims to enhance child health and nutrition. Alongside the initiative, the Prime Minister and the Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation also launched the Agrisustain Fund today. This initiative intends to raise USD 80 M to transform Bhutan’s agriculture sector.
The ‘One-Child, One-Egg’ initiative, first announced by the Prime Minister during the World Food Forum 2024 in Rome, marks a major step towards improving child nutrition in Bhutan.
According to the Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index Report 2022, over 20 per cent of children in Bhutan live below the poverty line.
Recognising the nutritional gaps, the initiative intends to ensure that every student in Bhutan’s school feeding programme receives an egg each day.
“Our children are malnourished. They lack protein, macronutrients, and micronutrients. 96% of our children are vitamin D deficient. Egg is world’s most common and powerful super food. Egg is packed with protein that your body needs to grow,” said the Prime Minister.
The Food Agriculture and Organisation is supporting this initiative with an annual funding of USD 2 M, to cover 300 schools and over 30,000 students in the initial phase.
Meanwhile, the Bhutan Agrisustain Fund aims to transform the country’s agricultural landscape by promoting resilience and sustainability. The agricultural sector, which employs nearly half of the country’s population, contributes only 14 per cent to the GDP.
According to officials, the initiative seeks to address challenges in the sector such as the adverse impacts of climate change, limited market access, and human-wildlife conflicts.
Deki Lhazom
Edited by Phub Gyem
