By Tupou Vaipulu Jr.

The Pacific Island Forum (PIF), in response to rising regional concerns over the cultural misappropriation of Pacific Kava by non-Pacific people, has launched a ‘Kava Strategy’ during the 53^rd PIFLM in Tonga.

The Kava Strategy aims to protect the intellectual property, commercial value and cultural uniqueness of kava to the Pacific. The Kava Strategy will use Geographical Indication (GI) to claim the property rights of kava.

Establishing a GI for kava will also protect it against misuse or imitation and ensure its authenticity and uniqueness to the Pacific.

Forum Secretariat Program Advisor Economics, Dr Salome Taufa, based in Fiji, was in Tongatapu for the 53^rd PIFLM. She told Matangi Tonga on 22 August that the GI is for marketing purposes, which will allow the economic benefits of kava to remain in the region and its people.

“I mean, we're talking about geographical indication for kava, but really, it's meant for marketing purposes to ensure that our products get premium prices,” she said “it's one of the products that is unique to our region – we need to capitalize on that."

A GI for kava indicates that it has a certain quality or reputation due to its place of origin, in this case the Pacific.

“That’s why this geographical indication work is important so that it can give our product its value – benefits should also be largely to our people in the Pacific” she said.

The aim is to capitalize on the increasing global demand for kava, to ensure the economic benefits from its commercialization remain within the region.

The strategy will also aid in the execution of the broader ‘2050 Strategy’.

While protecting the intellectual property of kava is crucial, Dr Taufa said that the strategy also includes the protection of the cultural uniqueness and importance of kava to the Pacific.

“It's beyond just the financial benefits and the market access –it's also about ensuring that we're protecting the cultural importance of this product to us” she said.

Ceremonialkava

Known for its muddy color and bitter taste, kava has been a unique part of Pacific culture for over a thousand years. It’s usually served as a beverage and is traditionally consumed during ceremonies throughout the Pacific.

Today in Tonga, there are daily kava sessions held in community halls and kava clubs, where the men gather to drink kava, chat and relax after a day of work.

However, Dr Taufa said that there are growing concerns in the region from Pacific kava growers regarding the cultural misappropriation of kava products coming out from non-Pacific countries.

An ‘American Kava cultivar’ who have trademarked their own American grown kava under the name “Kali Kava” is a business developed by foreign businessmen.

A leading Pacific kava-scientist and ethnobotanist Dr Vincent Lebot told The Fiji Times that passing Kali Kava off as a “cultivar” of kava was misleading.

“Scientifically, one cannot ‘breed’ kava cultivars, meaning that the ‘new’ American kava cultivar was simply a clone of Pacific kava”.

Out of the 18 member countries of the Pacific Island Forum, six are major kava producers in the region: Papua New Guinea, Vanuatu, Fiji, Tonga, Samoa and the Federated States of Micronesia.