Growing local consumption strains kava supply

Increasing kava consumption in Fiji is one of the biggest contributors to the shortage affecting lucrative overseas markets.

Minister for Agriculture, Waterways and Sugar Industry Tomasi Tunabuna said home consumption needed to be addressed to meet growing demand from export markets.

"Increasing consumption of kava in Fiji is one of the biggest contributions," Mr Tunabuna said in an interview on Friday.

"We would want to see how we could address home consumption and unnecessary consumption of kava when we look at the totality of how we could use and sell kava to markets that are very lucrative these days."

He said kava dieback disease was only part of the problem affecting supply.

"Losses that we have from either diseases or an increase in the requirement for kava is only part of the problem," Mr Tunabuna said.

The Minister said decreased labour was another factor affecting productivity, as farmers moved to other opportunities.

"There have been a number of factors affecting lower productivity," he said.

"One is the decreased labour, simply because there are other options and opportunities for our labourers."

Mr Tunabuna said the ministry had strategies to address the low supply compared to high demand, particularly from the United States market.

"We have a lot of markets in the US that are requiring kava, and the decrease of supply is now having some effect on the selling price of yaqona, whether it be green or red yaqona," he said.

Around 20 per cent of kava farmers nationwide are affected by kava dieback disease, which has re-emerged in the past two to three years.