On a track that is easy to miss, winding through the thick trees of Bhutan's forested hills, Tenzin Drukpa and Pampa Maya Tamange deliver stacks and stacks of trays brimming with eggs to 15 different primary schools in their districts of Thimphu and Chhukha.

Tenzin and Pampa make the journey every month, connecting their hillside farm to hundreds of children's lunch plates — children for whom the school meal may be the most nutritious food they receive that day.

Linking smallholder poultry farmers directly with school feeding programmes and tackling malnutrition in children while creating a stable market for rural producers is an initiative begun by the Royal Government of Bhutan with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Known as the One-Child, One-Egg (OCOE) initiative, the two-year pilot currently supplies eggs to 32 000 students in 343 schools across the country.

In Bhutan, nearly one in five children under five is stunted, about nine percent are underweight and more than one-third of adolescent girls suffer from anaemia. Eggs are among the most nutrient-dense foods available. They are rich in protein, healthy fats, vitamins and minerals that are essential for brain development, physical growth and immune function in children.

Students have said that they have noticed improved health and greater energy at school, while teachers reported that students appeared more attentive in class since the programme began.

On the other side of the equation is Tenzin, who started his poultry operation in 2018 and has known what it means to lose almost everything. When COVID-19 hit, egg prices collapsed and unsold trays piled up in his sheds. Then in 2023, a feed toxin outbreak swept through his flock, killing 2 700 birds and leaving him with an estimated loss of BTN 3.6 million — around USD 43 000.

He did not walk away. An economic stimulus loan from the government gave him the footing to rebuild and expand. The egg market gradually recovered, and when OCOE arrived, it brought something harder to put a price on: a reliable buyer. Today his sheds hold 4 000 birds, and the steady clucking of hens mixes with the clatter of egg trays bound for nearby schools.

"The egg market was erratic before," Tenzin says. "This initiative gave us an opportunity. Now, we know the schools need us."

Similar changes and connections are happening in southwestern Bhutan as farmers respond to reliable school demand. In Samtse district, near the border with India, 37-year-old Ganesh Bdr Ghalley often sold eggs at a loss but now supplies them to two schools serving over 200 students. "I have two children in school," he says. "Supplying eggs is also goodwill."

Further east also in Samtse district, Dependra and Sabitra Gurung run a poultry farm where their 750 hens supply eggs to a nearby primary school serving 300 students. "This initiative has helped us with assured markets," says Dependra. "We are self-sufficient now."

Eggs on the school menu

At Soeltapsa Primary School, a cluster of low classroom buildings sits above a small schoolyard engulfed by thick green hills. The school serves children from nearby villages scattered across the surrounding Samtse district's countryside. Before the OCOE initiative, cooks rarely included eggs in school lunches.

"Eggs have become an important part of the children's diet in school," says Karma, an egg supplier and member of the Soeltapsa women's group. "Before OCOE, we did not supply eggs, it was not part of the meal."

For school cooks preparing meals for dozens of children at a time, boiled eggs have always made the most sense — simple, quick, reliable. But children notice when the menu never changes, and they had begun to say so. The programme responded by training more than 280 cooks across 20 districts, equipping them not just with new recipes but with stronger food-safety practices to match.

The difference shows up at the pan. Cooks who once worked almost exclusively with boiling water are now sautéing garlic and onion, folding eggs and potatoes through hoentshey — Bhutan's wild spinach — to make gongdo hoentshey, a scramble fragrant with chilli.

Others are preparing egg paa: whole, boiled eggs slow-cooked in a richly spiced base of tomato, ginger and garlic, served with golden-fried potato wedges and finished with green chillies and coriander. The government has also increased the school meals stipend from BTN 1 500 to BTN 3 100 per child (about USD 38), reflecting the programme's expanded scope.

Back on his hillside farm in Damchu, Tenzin thinks about what comes next. Better access to chicks, improved sheds and fair pricing, he believes, could help farmers expand production further while helping children grow stronger, building a healthy new generation.

The story and photos can be found here: https://www.fao.org/newsroom/story/the-difference-an-egg-a-day-makes/en