The government is delivering thousands of free chicks to communities across Tonga to help provide them with enough meat.
This was part of a food assistance project initiated to help locals while the nation is still recovering after Cyclone Gita hit it in February.
MAFF’s Livestock Division handed out 1,890 baby chicks last week with those who joined the programme receiving 10 chicks each.
The receivers were trained to make sure they knew how to raise the chicken before they could be turned into meat products.
The Ministry intended to give out 40,000 baby chicks by the end of this year.
As Kaniva news reported, the Cabinet had allocated TP$21.4 for the Cyclone sub-committee to help the recovery process, and part of that money would be spent on food.
Last year the government handed out thousands of baby ducks and chickens to villagers to encourage them to cut down on fatty imported meat.
In 2016 the government imposed new import tax on fatty meat as part of its health campaign to encourage people to eat local food and meat products.
Tonga currently spends around $40 million pa’anga a year on imported meats which it wanted to see reduced.
A third of the Tongan population now has type 2 diabetes and the country’s life expectancy for both men and women has fallen in recent years.
