Image credit: Courtesy of Islands Business. Source: islandsbusiness.com
A brewing debate has surfaced among Pacific Island nations over how best to protect and preserve the cultural and economic value of kava, the region’s cherished traditional crop.
Tonga is calling on fellow Pacific kava producers to follow its lead in restricting the export of kava for extraction—a move that has sparked strong pushback from Vanuatu and Fiji, the region’s two largest kava exporters.
Tonga’s position, grounded in concerns over cultural erosion and potential misuse of the traditional beverage, promotes the idea that kava should only be consumed in its traditional, drinkable form—not processed into extracts for capsules, powders, or supplements abroad.