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The successful rollout of the Implementation Plan for the Regional Kava Development Strategy (RKDS) will be shaped by the discussions and actions taken by the stakeholders involved in the Pacific kava industry.
While officiating, Vanuatu’s Minister for Trade and Commerce, Honourable Bob Loughman, said the three-day consultation workshop aimed at validating the RKDS Implementation Plan and the scoping study on developing a kava-based pharmaceutical and nutraceutical industry.
Underscoring the importance of a collaborative regional approach, the hybrid event involved participation from all seven kava-producing countries: the Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Vanuatu. It also includes key stakeholders, implementers, regional and international organisations, and development partners in the kava industry.
The validation workshop is supported by the European Union-funded Strengthening Pacific Intra-regional and International Trade (SPIRIT) project implemented by the Pacific Islands Forum (PIFS) and the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) ACP Business-Friendly: Supporting Value Chains through inclusive policies, investment promotion, and alliances project implemented by the Pacific Community (SPC).
Kava's cultural heritage and its economic potential have been recognised as an export commodity to alleviate poverty in the Pacific.
For instance, for Vanuatu alone, according to the Vanuatu Private Sector Economic update for 2023, from 2014 to 2022, kava exports soared by 366%, reaching a value of VUV 3,390 million. Projections indicate they could nearly hit VUV 4,000 million in 2023.
Hon. Loughman further said, “We are now at the last tranche of this work where our discussions will pave the way for the successful roll-out of the implementation plan. This workshop marks a pivotal moment where each and everyone here and along the kava value chain plays an important role in operationalising the Regional Kava Development Strategy through the implementation plan that will be validated at the end of the workshop.”
SPC Value Chain Specialist, Sanfred Smith said the workshop ensured the Pacific region was poised to take on the challenges and opportunities anticipated by the kava industry.
“We will lay the groundwork and foundation to ensuring a sustainable, accessible, and resilient industry, with measures in place to protect and enhance the livelihoods of the Pacific people,” he said.
Endorsed by the Forum Trade Ministers in 2023 in principle, the RKDS was validated at a workshop in Vanuatu in November 2023. A draft implementation plan for the strategy was developed at a workshop held in Fiji in March 2024. The main commitment made in the Pacific is towards ensuring that action programmes are ‘‘strategically crafted to provide a coherent set of actions, and to ensure commitment at both national and regional levels for effective implementation’’.
Kava, scientifically known as Piper methysticum, holds a significant role in Pacific Island countries and territories linked to its unique cultural heritage Its derivatives are strategically important in driving economic growth and poverty alleviation in Pacific communities.
