Bangladeshis not eating enough eggs
Per capita consumption of eggs in Bangladesh should be increased to address protein deficiency and malnutrition, especially among low-income people, experts said at a roundtable discussion yesterday.
The Department of Livestock Services (DLS) and Bangladesh Poultry Industries Central Council (BPICC) jointly organised the discussion at Cirdap auditorium in Dhaka marking World Egg Day.
Currently, each Bangladeshi on average consumes around 95 eggs annually, as per recent government statistics. Egg consumption should increase to at least 104 per year to fulfil protein needs as well as to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), speakers said.
Eggs are a better source of protein for low-income people as it is cheaper than fish and meat, they added.
Shamsul Arefin Khaled, president of World's Poultry Science Association in Bangladesh, said egg consumption in the country has increased significantly in recent years.
“But it is still lower than that prescribed by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations -- 104 eggs per person annually,” he said.
Speaking as chief guest at the programme, Hiresh Ranjan Bhowmik, director general of the livestock department, said the country's protein demands could have been better fulfilled if the per capita egg consumption doubled.
“We should try to increase egg consumption as much as possible,” he said, expressing hope that the country would be sufficient in egg production within 2021.
Bhowmik also said the country has to achieve the financial means to allow each citizen to have at least one egg a day.
Moshiur Rahman, president of BPICC, urged the government to take an initiative so that every school student across the country can have at least two eggs per week.
About the recent price hike of eggs, he said the production of eggs has decreased by around 30 percent recently, as earlier this year many poultry farms had shut down for not being able to make profit.
Virus outbreak in poultry farms is another reason behind reduced egg production, added Moshiur. He also assured that they would try their best to overcome the current situation.
Earlier, the organisers brought out a colourful procession which marched a number of roads in the city, to mark World Egg Day.
The organisers also distributed free boiled eggs among underprivileged people in several areas of Dhaka, according to a BPICC press release.
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