kava

The bill would provide for only ni-Vanuatu farmers to plant kava, leaving any expatriate farmer looking to plant kava having to apply for a permit.

The minister said what he saw on his recent visit to Fiji convinced him to introduce the kava protection bill in parliament.

Mr Seremaiah had warned that in Fiji expatriate are mass producers of kava and have taken over a once strictly Fijian farmers' traditional kava industry and he does not want the same situation in Vanuatu.

Today at Tagabe, Antoine Ravo launches Vanuatu's Kava Replanting Programme, in which farmers will be encouraged raise Kava plants in nurseries before planting them with suitable companion crops like kumala, banana and taro.

Kava takes three to five years to harvest and the director says farming knowledge is advancing to ensure 100 percent growth rate of noble kava.

He says the ongoing challenges faced by the industry include the cost of transport and poor access between farms and markets.

Last week an industry meeting was held in Port Vila amid hopes of some kava producers that restrictions on tudei might be eased.

Sensitivity around the meeting was evident in the exclusion of local journalists from covering the event.

The meeting resolved that while there's a lack of scientific information on tudei, there will be a review of all existing scientific literature on it to incorporate into ongoing consideration.

A kava exporter and chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry Association, Michael Louze said he was happy with the outcome of the meeting

A promoter of Vanuatu and Vanuatu kava in Poland Dawid Chajman said kava was classified alongside hard drugs like cocaine in the eastern European country.

This is despite Poland being part of the European Union, a market where kava importation has recently resumed.

Mr Chajman said Poland banned kava separately from the EU in 2005.

He warned all travelers from Vanuatu and the Pacific entering Poland not to take any kava with them.

Kavafied is the brain child of former NFL player Matt Masifilo, who developed a simple and quick way to make kava at the end of his 2014 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

He says people in the USA are catching on to the kava craze and the demand for the Pacific Island beverage is at an all-time high.

“There’s not enough kava right now to meet demand, especially with the phenomenon of the American kava bar scene that’s exploding on to the market right now."

The kava plant – Piper methysticum – only grows in the south Pacific islands, with each one producing different varieties according to growing conditions, soil and climate, much like the different varieties of tea, coffee or wine.

The sedative brew is made from the roots of the kava plant, a member of the pepper family. As a drink it looks like muddy water and has a bitter aftertaste, but it is popular in the islands for its relaxing, narcotic properties.

The agriculture minister, Matai Seremiah, described the country's export dilemmas at the Pacific Week of Agriculture conference in Port Vila.

Mr Seremiah said Vanuatu was running short of kava due to increased demand locally and internationally.

The recent El Nino weather pattern and 2015's Cyclone Pam compounded the shortage by curtailing production.

Islands Business reported plans to boost production of high quality kava were already underway.

On beef, Mr Nawalu said his ministry was continuing with plans to increase cattle numbers.

The multi-cultural group meets up for a drink each week, and is part of a trend that has seen kava go beyond its Pacific roots, but the Kava Society has got some social media users hot under the collar. 

But one of its founding members, Zbigniew Dumieński, said the group didn't pretend to follow any rituals or ceremonies and thinks it would be bad, culturally, if they did. 

He said his initial interest in kava was sparked while he was in the Cook Islands and Niue for research. 

But at the same time demand for the traditional brew is growing in lucrative international markets, so governments in the Pacific are urgently seeking ways to produce more kava of the best quality.

In Vanuatu, the government has amended the Kava Act to ensure only high-potency varieties that are good enough for export can be grown, but Dr. Vincent Lebot from the Department of Agriculture says turning the industry around will take time.

A range of clinical studies on kava use have been conducted, firstly through the Universities of Queensland, and then Melbourne and Swinburne Universities in Victoria.

Early trials in 2013 showed a significant reduction in anxiety for people using kava compared to a placebo group during the study.

The lead researcher, Jerome Sarris, said a more recent study confirmed reduced levels for people with chronic anxiety conditions.

Kava certainly has a role as being a relatively safe, anxiety reducing medicineJerome Sarris