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Kava Research recipient aims to uplift Fiji’s Kava standard 

March 12, 2021 5:40 am

Kava farmers in Fiji are being encouraged to collaborate more and diversify their respective kava products.

This is an area Azekah Swamy will target and advocate on during her engagement at the University of the South Pacific pursuing Master Scientific Research specifically on kava.

Swamy has been awarded a one-year scholarship by Kava Korporesen Limited to conduct research on areas such as Kava chemistry, kava extraction, isolation, and purification for food grade application.

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Swamy says it’s rewarding to be the first recipient of the scholarship and adds that more needs to be done to promote positive stories about Fiji’s kava in these trying times.

She also highlighted the plans they have with local kava stakeholders for the near future.

“It may become a pharmaceutical product later on in the future. And it could be a good aim for the company to actually proceed creating a pharmaceutical product that can be beneficial for the people.”

Kava Corp Founder, John Sanday while signing the agreement yesterday afternoon says it’s critical to look at ways to improve kava branding to international markets.

He adds the sole reason the company has come on board to support an important approach is to improve the quality and image of Fiji kava.

“Coming from an international accredited institute like the USP and if we the industry incorporate those standards in our production system then that feeds into the big multinational companies.”

Sanday says local kava enterprises need to support this important approach to make the industry viable in the near future.