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The findings from a HealthBridge Foundation of Canada and Centro de Comunicación y Desarrollo Andino (CENDA)-led nutrition-sensitive agricultural intervention reveal that increased chicken rearing can lead to increased egg consumption—which can lead to improved household nutrition.
From 2012 to 2015 HealthBridge and CENDA worked with rural families in Tapacarí, Cochabamba, Bolivia to improve household nutrition. The intervention worked to promote the number of chickens being reared per family, with the goal of increasing the number of eggs consumed by family members. By the end of 2015, approximately 80% of participating families had established egg production on their farms and egg consumption had increased to approximately one half egg per person per day.
Tapacarí is among the poorest provinces in Bolivia. Peoples' diets are often dominated by tubers and grains and contain far fewer nutrient-dense foods. As a result there are high levels of child stunting which is expected to lead to impaired cognitive development, impaired immune system function, higher rates of illness and mortality and lower quality of life. Increased consumption of animal-source foods has been found to be an effective way to increase nutrients in diets.
