Solution for Calcium Deficiency - Egg Shells - It's Catching On

As I explained in an earlier post, Calcium deficiency in Kenya. What About Egg Shells?, calcium deficiency is a major problem in rural Africa. We proposed the idea of using egg shells as a dietary supplement. Introducing new ideas is challenging, even when they make good sense. Most of the people that I work with have been slow to adopt the idea. At the SAFI school in rural Malawi it is catching on thanks to a good staff and BYU students.

Ester the SAFI nutritionist shows me maize flour with egg shells ground into it.

The SAFI school has two flour mills for grinding maize (corn) flour. Ester and the BYU students took some of the egg shells from their breakfast and ground them right into the maize flour. The egg shells have no flavor, so they go undetected as long as they are ground fine enough that there is no gritty texture. I tested the flour myself and found no difference in taste or texture, when compared with regular maize flour.

Alisha, one of the BYU students that helped with the eggshell project.

One egg shell can provide enough daily calcium for three people. This use of egg shells could be a huge game changer in the lives of the rural African population. The question is, will we be able to change the custom of these rural villagers and convince them to eat egg shells as part of their daily diet.