Pacific feels the strain of increased demand for kava

Transcript

The kava industry is feeling the strain as the popularity of kava grows in the Pacific region and beyond.

Recently kava production and supply has struggled to meet demand in some of the Pacific region's kava-producing hubs.

Johnny Blades has more.

Kava production has been falling short of increased demand for the product around Vanuatu's islands. This and a recent severe drought that destroyed many young kava plantations are being linked to the current shortage of kava in the capital Port Vila.  A scientist with Vanuatu's Ministry of Agriculture Vincent Lebot, says such shortages of supply are being seen in other parts of the Pacific too, such as Fiji.

VINCENT LEBOT: Cyclone Winston hit Fiji badly and visited Taveuni which was producing about 30 - 40 percent of the kava production in Fiji. So today I think most of the kava produced in the South Pacific is produced in Vanuatu. We still have some quality constraints that we are focusing on, and the government wants to make sure that the quality is there, and we need to encourage farmers to plant the right varieties and to harvest at the right time.

For Apo Aporosa, a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Waikato in New Zealand, the lack of kava availability raises concerns from a socio-cultural perspective. He points out that kava is considered a cultural keystone species for Pacific communities

APO APOROSA: And that includes links to our cultural practices and expressions of our identity and as a traditional medicine. So what we've got is that when we don't have what we see as this potent icon of identity, it takes away an aspect of who we are. And on top of that there's also this concern for us in that people and Pacificans are moving towards alcohol as kava is reduced.

One of the founders of the Auckland University kava Society, Zbigniew Dumieński, says the kava industry usually doesn't respond quickly to shocks. He mentions recent devastating cyclones in Vanuatu and Fiji, as well as the fallout from 2002 ban on kava products by German authorities. The ban was later overturned but the industry is still struggling with the lingering reputational damage. However Mr Dumieński says there is increased demand for kava from pharmaceutical companies due to its medicinal qualities.

ZBIGNIEW DUMIEŃSKI: It's not only the pharmaceutical industry which is there and is still quite timid because, you know, many people lost huge sums of money when Germany decided to ban kava so I think some of the pharmaceutical companies are still reluctant. But we also see a huge kind of revolution in terms of kava consumption in the west. In the United States, they already have more than 100 kava bars; many different people have been opening such bars around the United States, [and] lots of ordinary users have started switching to using kava as a safer and healthier alternative to alcohol.

Despite Tonga having been the main supplier of kava for the pharmaceutical companies, production there is declining. Vanuatu is looking to plug the gap. However to do so, the country's kava farmers have been told to move towards producing only high quality kava. It's another challenge to confront as the regional industry anticipates further shortages in the short-term.