Page 28 - IB APR 2017

Business
Kava evolution

Crossing the bridge to meet the world

By Ilaitia Turagabeci

HIGH along and beneath the ridges above
Fiji’s Old Capital from where defiant Fijian
warriors once fought the encroaching
West, reconciliation is taking place –
thanks to a plant that is changing lives.
Reknown for their warfare tactics
against the colonial government forces
aided by the Fijian chief Ratu Seru Ca-
kobau in the late 1800s, descendants
of the people on this volcanic island are
implementing a new strategy to embrace
the world and its markets.
Yaqona (Piper methysticum) or kava as
it’s commonly known around the world
and, used in traditional Fijian ceremonies
to celebrate birth, extending marriage
proposals, death, and as a unifying token
of peace and reconciliation, is inspiring
farmers to a new beginning.
It is becoming more lucrative for farm-
ers on this island and others in this Pacific
archipelago as more kava markets spring
open around the world.
Etuate Draunidalo, 66, a Lovoni vil-
lager whose forefathers opposed settlers
and their new ways on Ovalau, said they
envisioned their future in kava.
“I think we now have the answer to it,”
Draunidalo, the biggest kava farmer on
the island, told Islands Business.
“The birth of new ideas, innovation
and techniques in this industry are taking
our product to places we never dreamt we
could reach before.”
Each morning, he drives his 10 workers
to his farm.
They tend to each plant, clearing the
surroundings, making sure the plants
uprooted for his two big markets - at home
and abroad -are healthy.
They ensure they pass quality controls
at Taki Mai, an Ovalau-based company Etuate Draunidalo on his farm on Ovalau.

28 Islands Business, April 2017