• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • Global health

    Can a powdered egg a day keep malnutrition away? Uganda thinks so

    Uganda is fighting child malnutrition with powdered eggs in a packet. A new UNICEF-backed initiative aims to reach 50,000 kids this year and millions more by 2030.

    By Amy Fallon // 31 July 2025
    When Ugandan mechanical engineer Joel Guma launched a food manufacturing and packaging business nearly a decade ago, he wasn’t targeting malnourished children or refugees. His first customers were bakeries, restaurants, hotels, and confectioners in Uganda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. They wanted Pristine Foods Limited’s products — high-quality pasteurized, homogenized, and filtered liquid eggs, which were first developed in 2020 — mainly because eggs in parts of East Africa were scarce. The company, which today employs between 40 and 50 people and had an annual turnover of $1.6 million in 2024, says it is the only egg processor in East and Central Africa offering pasteurized liquid and dried powder eggs. It was only later, when Guma read about the nutritional challenges for children in Uganda and the potential of eggs, that he realized he could provide a solution. What concerned Guma was that even though there was progress around reducing child stunting, targets were still far off. He could see that while food was available, it wasn’t reaching those who needed it. Interventions such as super cereal, maize flour with soya, were mainly focused on energy, so nutrients were low. There were not many alternatives for kids from 6 to 23 months old, says Guma. There were only grains and cereal. “There’s a lot of food grown in Uganda, but why we became so interested in eggs is because eggs have more protein, pretty much more than any food you can find around here,” Guma told Devex. Fast forward four years, and after capturing the attention of UNICEF, Pristine Foods Limited has signed a three-year renewable deal with the agency and the government of Uganda. Together, they aim to bring powdered eggs to nearly 50,000 children between 2 and 6 years old by the end of this year. The initial phase of UNICEF’s Egg Powder Initiative for Children, or EPIC initiative — using Pristine’s powdered egg in a 12-gram sachet form — was launched in April. UNICEF launches the Egg Powder Initiative for Children—saving Uganda’s stunted children. The initiative hopes to reach 6.8 million children in Uganda between 2026 and 2030. The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation, or Norad, is providing funding for the project as part of a broader allocation of 90 million Norwegian krone ($8.7 million) that NORAD has provided to a UNICEF nutrition fund. A number of factors contribute to the dietary patterns of Uganda’s children, including limited access to high-quality animal-source proteins recommended for them, plus behavioral and knowledge gaps, according to Laura Ahumuza Turinawe, a senior nutritionist working with Uganda’s Ministry of Health. One in 3 children in sub-Saharan Africa is living in severe food poverty, meaning that they consume two or fewer of the eight food groups recommended for their optimal growth, according to UNICEF’s child nutritional report last year. It’s a global trend. One in 4 children lives in severe childhood poverty and doesn’t have access to a sufficient, diverse diet, according to the study. But Uganda has reduced child stunting from as high as 45% in 2001 to 26% today, the 2022 Uganda demographic and health survey found. It has achieved this progress through a multisectoral approach involving health, agriculture, social protection, education, and water, sanitation, and hygiene, Ahumuza Turinawe told Devex. Stunting — defined by UNICEF as a child who is too short for their age — has also decreased as Uganda has hastened its grip on malaria. The country is now trying to lower its stunting rates from the current 26% to 12.5% by 2030. Cracking the egg crisis Guma, who previously worked for brands such as Framptons, Coca-Cola Sabco, and Refresco Beverages, while living in the United Kingdom, wanted to create a new market for eggs after he saw bird flu affecting the poultry industry in 2017. As birds were being culled, this was leading to a shortage of eggs, poultry, and meat supply. He launched Pristine Foods Limited from Kireka-Kamuli factory in Wakiso district, about 17 kilometers from Uganda’s capital Kampala, in 2019, with liquid eggs as its first product. The liquid eggs are said to have a longer shelf life, are more affordable, easy to prepare, and still full of essential nutrients. Pristine operates a system that ensures that every egg that they use can be traced back to its originating farm. With pandemic border closures leading to an influx of eggs that couldn’t be sold as liquid because they only keep for a few weeks, and people wouldn’t buy them, this prompted Pristine to use a small machine to make the powdered ones. The company then launched its own powdered egg in 2020. During the lockdown, Guma began researching the use of egg powder in treating malnutrition in children. He learned about a successful six-month trial where children under the age of 2 in rural Ethiopia consumed an egg daily, after receiving two local hens and caging materials in a cultural and religious gifting ceremony. A study found that promoting eggs and eggshell powder with calcium and poultry intervention significantly improved children’s nutritional status. “What got me concerned in Uganda was I know there is progress around stunting in children but the targets were still way off,” Guma said. “I could see food around, but it wasn't getting to the right places.” He immediately took Pristine’s egg powder for testing at a government lab in Kampala. It confirmed that its nutritional value was as good as a normal egg. Next, he approached the country’s health ministry about the idea of using this to tackle malnutrition. After research and approvals by the ministry’s national technical working group for nutrition, of which UNICEF is a member, the agency approached Guma and became more interested in the product. This led to their collaboration. Help from Partners in Food Solutions, or PFS, an agrifood volunteering model in which more than 2,300 volunteers from seven corporate partners work with companies across 11 countries, allowed Pristine to put in place a quality management system and secure International Organization for Standardization certification, among other things. This was critical for gaining UNICEF’s trust and procurement approval. Filling in the protein gap Karamoja, a drought-prone region in Uganda’s northeast, experiencing cyclic food insecurity and high levels of undernutrition, is the most marginalized part of the country. A trial on the efficacy and therapeutic potential of egg powder in the prevention and management of moderate acute malnutrition in the region was conducted in December. It involved 340 children under the age of 5, living in 262 households, being fed the powdered egg daily for three months. Moderate acute malnutrition rates saw a significant reduction, according to a study soon to be published by Kyambogo University. Pristine has also expressed interest in becoming part of UNICEF’s First Foods Africa investment opportunity, said Christiane Rudert, regional nutrition advisor for eastern and southern Africa at UNICEF. The program aims to support local production and consumption of nutritious, safe, affordable, and sustainable first foods and food supplements for young children on the continent. Many food systems and agriculture initiatives focus on staple items for households, such as cereals, grains, and starches. But they do not account for the unique needs of small children, requiring nutrient-dense foods, especially protein sources, Rudert said. “The protein gap isn’t really something that has been widely pursued or addressed by others, so this is why we have come in with this innovative model to take these kinds of products to much larger scale and make them a normal part of the way that families feed children,” she said. “Most families give a child a part of the family meal, and the children often then miss meat or the other kinds of sources of protein.” Pristine says that being part of First Foods Africa would also help support them with bringing certain products to market, exploring how to reduce the cost of some foods while still keeping the company profitable. One small risk of giving children eggs could be allergies, according to Esther Omosa, a senior nutrition specialist at the International Livestock Research Institute. While egg allergy data from low- and middle-income countries were limited, with most of it reported by mothers, she said that studies had shown a prevalence rate of 2% in Egypt and 1.8%-3.3% in South Africa. But Omosa said that Pristine’s powdered egg had great potential. “Eggs are very delicate to transport, but you can throw the sachets in your luggage and move along with them easily,” Omosa told Devex. Guma said that Pristine may move into neighboring Tanzania and Kenya. Pristine also hopes to use eggs to target malnutrition in Uganda’s school meals space. “I can’t fix everything, but this can go a long way in helping this problem,” he said.

    When Ugandan mechanical engineer Joel Guma launched a food manufacturing and packaging business nearly a decade ago, he wasn’t targeting malnourished children or refugees. His first customers were bakeries, restaurants, hotels, and confectioners in Uganda and the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo.

    They wanted Pristine Foods Limited’s products — high-quality pasteurized, homogenized, and filtered liquid eggs, which were first developed in 2020 — mainly because eggs in parts of East Africa were scarce. The company, which today employs between 40 and 50 people and had an annual turnover of $1.6 million in 2024, says it is the only egg processor in East and Central Africa offering pasteurized liquid and dried powder eggs. It was only later, when Guma read about the nutritional challenges for children in Uganda and the potential of eggs, that he realized he could provide a solution.

    What concerned Guma was that even though there was progress around reducing child stunting, targets were still far off. He could see that while food was available, it wasn’t reaching those who needed it. Interventions such as super cereal, maize flour with soya, were mainly focused on energy, so nutrients were low. There were not many alternatives for kids from 6 to 23 months old, says Guma. There were only grains and cereal.

    This article is free to read - just register or sign in

    Access news, newsletters, events and more.

    Join usSign in

    Read more:

    ► Faith vs. nutrition: India’s school meals program walks on eggshells

    ► ‘The system is breaking’: US aid freeze threatens child malnutrition care

    ► The key to ending malnutrition may lie in the gut microbiome

    • Global Health
    • United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Amy Fallon

      Amy Fallon@amyfallon

      Amy Fallon is an Australian freelance journalist currently based in Uganda. She has also reported from Australia, the U.K. and Asia, writing for a wide range of outlets on a variety of issues including breaking news, and international development, and human rights topics. Amy has also worked for News Deeply, NPR, The Guardian, AFP news agency, IPS, Citiscope, and others.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    Devex NewswireDevex Newswire: Gates bets big on learning as donors pull back

    Devex Newswire: Gates bets big on learning as donors pull back

    Global HealthObesity is on the rise in Africa. Here’s what UNICEF is doing about it

    Obesity is on the rise in Africa. Here’s what UNICEF is doing about it

    Global healthUganda receives first pediatric drug for schistosomiasis. What's next?

    Uganda receives first pediatric drug for schistosomiasis. What's next?

    The Trump Effect‘The system is breaking’: US aid freeze threatens child malnutrition care

    ‘The system is breaking’: US aid freeze threatens child malnutrition care

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: How climate philanthropy can solve its innovation challenge
    • 2
      The legal case threatening to upend philanthropy's DEI efforts
    • 3
      Why most of the UK's aid budget rise cannot be spent on frontline aid
    • 4
      How is China's foreign aid changing?
    • 5
      2024 US foreign affairs funding bill a 'slow-motion gut punch'
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement