Kava is becoming an expensive commodity as the local demand continues to increase.
Permanent Secretary for Agriculture Uraia Waibuta says at the current rate,
there won’t be enough kava to go around, when the exporting of kava to the EU starts.
‘’Once the EU market comes into Fiji to start that particular process, we wont be able to meet that requirement, because even the kava price for Fiji is still too high. which is at 30, 35 dollars a kilo. That shows that the farmers re not really meeting the demand for our local market’’.
Kava can be bought from as low as $22 a kilo to as high as $35 a kilo – farm gate price.
Some farmers are harvesting young plants to meet the demand.
People in the kava producing provinces or areas are urged to focus on kava production because the market is readily available.
