Small-scale egg production centres increase children's egg consumption in rural Zambia

Animal source foods can efficiently enhance dietary quality, but they remain inaccessible and unaffordable for many women and young children in remote, low-income communities. We piloted an intervention in which 20 groups established egg production centres (EPCs) in their rural Zambian communities to increase the availability of eggs in the local food system. In a repeated cross-sectional design over 1 year (midline [4 months after the start of egg production] and endline [11 months]), we evaluated programme impact on household egg acquisition within those communities and on egg consumption and height-for-age z score (HAZ) among young children (6-36 months) using multilevel linear, logistic, and truncated negative binomial regression techniques. At midline, households in project areas were significantly more likely to consume eggs than those in control areas (OR 2.08, 95% CI [1.56, 2.78]), particularly those located within 250 m of the EPC. Similarly, children living in project communities were significantly more likely to consume eggs at midline than those in control areas (OR 5.53, 95% CI [2.90, 10.58]). Although increased over baseline, egg acquisition and consumption decreased by endline because of depressed egg production over time. There was no impact on children's HAZ, likely because of the short follow-up time and relatively modest "dose" of egg consumption. Although productivity can be improved, the EPC programme offers a novel approach to improving access to eggs in rural communities, and optimization of the production practices and marketing is needed to ensure that egg consumption translates to improved dietary quality, growth, and health.