Page 15 - Islands Business March 2023

Agriculture Agriculture

While the Pacific has had years of experience handling kava, issue affected the industry, and we all closed down, except
when it comes to exporting the commodity internationally, for Fiji and New Caledonia.”
there are still some issues that need to be addressed. He is concerned that this issue may affect the kava export
According to former Codex regional coordinator and repre- trial currently underway, and soon to be reviewed, to Austra-
sentative from Vanuatu, Tekon Timothy Tumukon, one area of lia. He says the review team should include panellists from
concern is the abuse of the name ‘kava’. the Pacific Islands.
“There is a huge worry now, Kava is purely a mix of cold While the representative from Vanuatu had some specific
water and kava, that’s what kava is—a pure mix, Tumukon suggestions, in Tonga it is also a case of changing the mindset
said. of farmers.
“A lot of Kava nowadays is mixed with other liquids, like Tonga’s senior agriculture officer, Halafihi, said, “Most of
cordial, and is now used in other nutraceutical ingredients,” the kava growers are small local farmers who find it a chal-
he said. lenge to go through all the procedures; when we tell them,
Tumukon believes you cannot claim that a product is ‘kava’ they say they weren’t educated and it’s too hard.”
when it is mixed with other liquids or substituents, Kava can He says despite trainings and briefings, “There have been
only be called kava in its raw form, without any interference. a few concerns, especially from kava growers, that it is an
“But now those products still have the name kava attached added expense for them because of the regulations and re-
to them, so if something goes wrong with that concoction it quirements from Australia,” Halafihi said.
will come back to us, so these are some things we have to sort “Now there needs to be an established kava processor
out to see if you start adding something else to them, calling that is HACCP certified, which means it is going to cost them
them something else,” he said. more,” she said.
Tumukon said, “People seem to be putting that issue on the According to Halafihi, the meeting has broadened her un-
back burner, and that was what hurt us in 1999-2001 in the derstanding of what is needed in Tonga, and she plans to take
German market and European market, where they prepared that knowledge of better quality standards to her team.
kava pills, so they were using ethanol for extracting kava from editor@islandsbusiness.com
the root. We are not using ethanol; we are using water. That

A SACRED CROP AFFECTED BY

CLIMATE CHANGE

By Nikki Richardson abroad, averaging VUV $766million (US$63million) in exports
annually between 2011 to 2014, according to Vanuatu Busi-
The jarring sound of men hocking spit contrasts sharply with ness Review.
the quiet conversation and humming cicadas at Port Vila’s Joseph Brun, a local exporter, has been in the industry for
waterside Nagotambo Nakamal at dusk. 30 years and acknowledges he was always “crazy about kava”.
“It’s like, [the] nectar of the gods. It’s sacred,” local Josh “I love kava, I just love the whole aspect of it,” he says.
Rasu says slowly and in hushed tones, as the plant extract Joseph learnt the ropes of the kava business by operating
begins to take effect. his own nakamal (kava bar) and later explored the untapped
“Big ceremony or a big wedding … kava has to be there.” potential in exporting.
But one thing stands in the way of its commercial success – Now, he travels the island chain and engages with growers
climate change. to source produce and keep up with international demand.
“It has risen in a couple of years, now the whole country
Vanuatu’s ‘green cash’ economy is trying to replace alcohol with kava because of the side ef-
Josh Rasu has lived on Efate, where the capital is located, fects,” Joseph says.
for 10 years after relocating from Espiritu Santo in the north.
“Where I come from there’s huge farms of kava. People ‘Big problems growing kava’
call it ‘green cash’ because it makes a lot of money here,” he Growing kava, and enough of it amid increasing and in-
says. tensifying natural disasters, is fraught with challenges given
The national census in 2020 found the country had a strong Vanuatu is the most at-risk country for natural disasters.
domestic market for kava, which provided income and support Locals say they have seen increased rainfall, flooding,
to around 26,000 households or 42% of the population. landslides, drought, and more intense and frequent cyclones
“We make a lot of money on kava, domestically,” Josh says. in recent years. Just this year, Vanuatu has experienced two
“We don’t need to export or do stuff to earn money, we just severe cyclones within the space of weeks.
need to sell kava [to locals].” For grower Charle David Nasu, from Lamtawekel on the
volcanic Island of Tanna, growing kava has been an unrelent-
‘Crazy about Kava’ ing labour of love.
There is strong demand for Vanuatu kava at home and Charle’s kava farm was at the epicenter of Tropical Cyclone

Islands Business, March 2023 15
Islands Business, March 2023 15