Vanuatu has been hit by a shortage of kava after a surge in domestic and international demand for the potent drink.

Kava, Vanuatu’s largest crop, is exported to neighbouring Pacific islands as well as the US, Australia and New Zealand.

The sedative brew is made from the roots of the kava plant, a member of the pepper family. As a drink it looks like muddy water and has a bitter aftertaste, but it is popular in the Pacific Islands for its relaxing, narcotic properties.

The industry is worth 2bn vatu a year to the country (£12.6m), whose secondary industries are tourism, coffee, cocoa and coconut.

Traditionally, kava was drunk by men in the outer Vanuatuan islands and only during ceremonial occasions.

But a burgeoning population and increasing urbanisation have meant the number of kava drinkers has increased in the past decade, with Ni-Vanuatu women also starting to enjoy the drink.

Michael Louzé (squatting) drinking kava in Vanuatu. Photograph: Michael Louzé

In the capital, Port Vila, there are more than 300 kava bars for a population of 44,000, according to Dr Vincent Lebot, a scientist with the ministry of agriculture.

“The greatest demand on kava has been growing national consumption,” Lebot said.

“And with the drought caused by El Niño last year, and cyclone Pam, we are now seeing a severe shortage of kava, which has resulted in high prices and diluted product.”

In Port Vila fresh kava fetches almost triple the amount it did two years ago. It is selling for between 600 and 800 vatu a kilo (£3.80 to £5.10), with a cup at a local bar selling for 115 vatu (70p).

Fiji has also begun to import kava from Vanuatu in significant quantities after cyclone Winston wiped out large swaths of its crop in March.

For kava drinkers in the capital, the increasing dilution of the drink is a worrying trend.





Michael Louzé, the chief executive of South Seas Commodities, said the first “pour” of kava in many bars would be undiluted, but by the second or third the drink would be lacking the potency and kick the Vanuatuan crop is famous for.

“In my view the kava shortage started three years ago, and it has just got continually worse,” Louzé said.

“Traditionally it was only men who drank kava on special occasions, but now more young people are drinking kava, more women are drinking kava, it is becoming really common to go from work, to a kava bar, to home. That’s the routine in the cities now.”

Farming the root has become increasingly lucrative, with prices for fresh kava having soared in the past few years. Photograph: Michael Louzé

Louzé said it was also more lucrative and less labour-intensive for local farmers to sell their product domestically as it did not need to be dried and processed and the current demand in the cities was so high.

Kava was also cheaper and more accessible than alcohol, said Lebot, and since the 1980s the Vanuatuan government had encouraged the local population to embrace it as a drink with fewer antisocial problems.

“Kava has been heavily promoted as the national beverage,” Lebot said.



“In the 1980s we had lots of alcohol-related problems, especially family violence. But kava is a peaceful social lubricant, it promotes relaxation. And even if you drink a lot, all that happens is you fall asleep. The men don’t become violent like they do with alcohol.”

Louzé said his company was unable to meet national and international demand for kava and as the crop took three to four years to mature there was little he could do other than encourage more local farmers to start growing it.

“Without a doubt it’s the best employment option in Vanuatu, far more profitable than the other crops and more dependable than tourism. In Vanuatu it’s a rare success story.”

• This article was amended on 22 June 2016 to correct a reference to Vanuatuan women to Ni-Vanuatu. It was further amended on 14 July 2016 to remove a reference to kava as “mildly hallucinogenic”.