News Desk |
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ‘backyard poultry project’ of providing hens to poor families can generate at least 10,000 rupees a month– more than the salary of a security guard or construction worker– according to livestock officials, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.
Abdul Rehman, Director Poultry Research Institute believes that the project not only will benefit livelihood of poor but also make a difference in the health, as desi or domestic chicken eggs are highly disease-resistant and fortifying as compared to factory-farm eggs.
PM Khan emphasized on providing the hens specifically to women in the rural area to empower them and increase their capacity to contribute to not only their domestic but also to country’s economy.
“In Pakistan, 44 percent of children under age 5 have stunted growth due to nutritional deficiency,” Mr. Rehman said. “Our infant mortality rate [about 40 per 1,000 births, highest in the world as per World Bank] is associated with malnutrition in mothers. These eggs can add a healthy ingredient to their diets.”
Mr. Rehman also mentioned that cross-bred with birds from Egypt and Australia and with Rhode Island Reds, the research institute had developed birds with necessary qualities for backyard life.
Referring to the tough and agile nature of these cross-bred birds, Mr. Rehman said, “They can live in trees, in boxes or under people’s stairs. They can eat kitchen scraps instead of expensive feed, and they can outrun predators like cats and foxes.” Monetarily, providing five hens and a rooster to several million families would help them earn income at home by selling eggs.
Read more: An open letter to Bill Gates: We need cash not chickens!
Interestingly, a few weeks back, a journalist, Hamid Mir shared a video on his Twitter account saying the man in video sold eggs to make both ends meet. The money earned by “Selling eggs” could possibly change the fate of his children who were getting an education by that income.
یہ غریب آدمی مسلم لیگ ن کا حامی ہے لیکن اپنے بچوں کی تعلیم کا خرچہ پورا کرنے کے لئے اسلام آباد میں انڈے بیچتا ہے اور چند سال بعد انڈوں کی مددسے اسکے بچوں کے تقدیر بدل سکتی ہے اب آپ نے اسکا مذاق اڑانا ہے تو مذاق اڑائیں اور اسکی باتوں پر غور کرنا ہے تو غور کر لیں pic.twitter.com/zPjeSYR1MF
— Hamid Mir حامد میر (@HamidMirPAK) December 4, 2018
The man in the video–a security guard at a mall in Islamabad– says that he sells eggs to provide education to his five kids. He manages his livelihood by selling eggs; even though he supports opposition party [PML-N], he believes firmly in Imran Khan’s idea of ‘chicken formula’.
The PM Khan’s idea, borrowed from Bill Gates, can surely add to the petty earnings of poor families in Pakistan. Political Elite mocking the scheme is indirectly just benefiting large food processors and industrialists who once invested in cement or textile production and have now cornered the egg market, that too at expense of small farmers.
Read more: Poultry, meat and eggs may contain harmful drugs, NA committee told
PM Khan emphasized on providing the hens specifically to women in the rural area to empower them and increase their capacity to contribute to not only their domestic but also to country’s economy.
Yes, it is not going to help on a macro level, but 10,000 rupees for poor families mean a lot that the ones sitting on media to bash premier can never understand.