Page 16 - Vol.39-No.1

POULTRY

HY-LINE LAUNCHES PARTNERSHIP TO

PROVIDE EGG PROTEIN TO MALNOURISHED

AFRICAN CHILDREN

South Africa, home to 60 million people
is a country of extremes. It is a land of
breathtaking scenery, eleven official lan-
guages, world famous National parks, ul-
tramodern cities, but like so many countries
in the world, it is plagued with extreme
income disparity where a significant part
of the population lives in abject poverty
and suffers malnutrition. The World Bank
determined South Africa to be among the
most unequal counties in the world with
20% of the population living in extreme
poverty with income of less than $2 per
day. Poverty and poor health outcomes
go hand-in-hand. Unicef attributes 11.4%
of deaths in South African children under
five to low body weight. Three out of ten Blessman was well-aware of the health from a South African medical organiza-
children are stunted, a condition which benefits associated with egg consumption tion into mid-2023. After this ‘practice
affects their growth and development and was eager to add ‘an egg-per-day’ to run’ at which time we are confident that
(Unicef South Africa). Malnutrition con- enhance the protein and vitamin content the study is sound, we will launch the of-
tributes to the vicious cycle of poverty. of his existing rations. ficial study with an unreached group of
This story is in no way unique to South children to provide the meal rations plus
Africa but present worldwide to differing One egg contains 6 grams of protein, 5 an egg-a-day from the flock to track and
degrees. grams of healthy fats, 80 calories all while document well-being outcomes. We an-
providing:
With this as the backdrop, Hy-Line In- ticipate this study will finish by mid-2024
ternational approached Dr. Jim Blessman •Vitamin A: 6% of the recommended at which time armed with scientific data,
of Blessman International, located in one daily allowance (RDA) we will endeavor to upscale the program
of the poorest areas of South Africa in •Folate: 5% of the RDA to bring the benefits of egg consumption
northern Limpopo State. Twenty years ago, •Vitamin B5: 7% of the RDA to a much larger population to add egg
Blessman and his family left the comforts protein to Blessman’s wider 60,000-child
of a successful medical career in suburban •Vitamin B12: 15% of the RDA feeding program.
Des Moines, Iowa, USA, drawn to this re- •Vitamin B2: 15% of the RDA Hy-Line International and Hy-Line South
mote part of the world to undertake the •Phosphorous: 9% of the RDA Africa will place the started Hy-Line Silver
challenge to feed and improve the overall Brown pullets in January 2023 which will
well-being for African children. Through •Selenium: 22% of the RDA result in eggs in a matter of a few short
many trials and obstacles, Blessman’s or- •Also contain amounts of vitamin D, weeks while offering technical support and
ganization has grown today to feed some vitamin E, vitamin K, vitamin B6, cal- advice for best practices to maximize yields
60,000 children via ten food distribution cium and zinc from the flock. The project will lean on
hubs in the country. Seeing ‘our neighbor’ The immediate plan is to run a small pilot the expertise of Mr. Bruce Dooyema of
at work in South Africa, Hy-Line Interna- ‘proof of concept’ program in which Hy- Versova Egg Company in Iowa, one of the
tional together with Hy-Line South Africa Line International, Hy-Line South Africa, largest egg producers in the US, who is con-
reached out to Dr. Blessman to cooperate and Blessman International cooperate to sulting to assure success with the project
with his feeding program with the pur- provide a minimum of one fresh egg per contributing his vast knowledge and prior
pose to add ‘an-egg-a-day’ to the feeding day to his local feeding hub starting in early experience in Africa on similar projects.
program to further enhance his efforts by 2023 from a flock of Hy-Line Silver Brown We look forward to further develop this
enhancing the nutritional content of the ready-to-lay pullets. Phase one of the pro- project over the next years to improve
meals. Blessman provides daily meals con- ject will be to establish a robust, scientific the lives of under-nourished South African
sisting of a basic grain and vegetable-based study to track the health outcomes of a children and demonstrate the power of
diet that the kids receive from Meals from small cohort of children at Blessman’s near- the egg as part of the solution to reduce
the Heartland, also from Des Moines, which by Mokopone location with the assistance world hunger and improve overall health
are shipped in container loads over several of US medical professionals with oversight outcomes worldwide.
times per year. As a medical doctor, Dr.

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