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Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Kiribati's Considerable Kava Consumption
Article – RNZ Michael Louze, former chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry said when you break it down, it's about four kilograms of kava per person annually if half the population was the world's largest consumer of Vanuatu kava in 2024. The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that last year the country imported 280 metric tonnes of kava from Vanuatu. Michael Louze, former chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry and a kava exporter to the United States, said when you break it down, it's about four kilograms of kava per person annually if half the population drinks. 'Some drink more, some less. But even at that level, it's a solid figure for a country this size.' In 2023, China was the world's largest importer of raw kava, but 99 per cent of it went towards extract production for re-export. 'China was never a market for kava,' Louze said. 'It made more sense for the bulk product to go through China. But in Kiribati, it's different. They're drinking it – no processing, no re-export. Pure consumption.' But one Kiribati kava bar owner, Kantaake Robapi, said there's too many of them now. 'Each village has a kava bar. There are too many kava bars in Kiribati. 'You pay AUD$150 [approximately US$97] for a licence. The Ministry of Health checks the premises – the toilets, tools for cleaning kava. Once they approve, you pay your fee to the Tarawa council.' Kiribati's Minister for Women, Youth and Sports, Ruth Cross Kwansing, has raised concerns about kava's effects on society. Kwansing told the ABC the impact of high kava consumption is being felt at homes. 'If fathers aren't home with their children and their wives, then obviously they're not looking after their families and their children,' she said. 'If they're spending all the money on kava, then where's the funds that the family needs for food and basic essentials?' She said men were exhausted from late-night kava drinking and not able to cut toddy or go out fishing and were not productive at home. Meanwhile, Tonga is calling on fellow Pacific kava producers to follow its lead in restricting the export of kava for extraction – a move that has sparked strong pushback from Vanuatu and Fiji, the region's two largest kava exporters. Tonga's positioncomes from concerns over cultural erosion and potential misuse, and promotes the idea that kava should only be consumed in its traditional, drinkable form – not processed into extracts for capsules, powders, or supplements abroad. There's also worries about a shortage in Vanuatu. Louze linked the shortage to several causes: the increasing number of kava farmers joining seasonal work programmes in Australia and New Zealand, damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Harold on Pentecost in 2020, and growing demand in the Port Vila market. A kava plant takes more than five years to mature before it can be harvested. 'People in Port Vila are consuming tons of kava every week, but they are not planting it,' he said. 'The population is growing rapidly, and more young men and women are drinking kava daily.' But he also said farmers cannot go wrong with planting kava with demand both locally and internationally growing, and prices have never been so high.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Kiribati's Considerable Kava Consumption
Michael Louze, former chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry said when you break it down, it's about four kilograms of kava per person annually if half the population was the world's largest consumer of Vanuatu kava in 2024. The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that last year the country imported 280 metric tonnes of kava from Vanuatu. Michael Louze, former chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry and a kava exporter to the United States, said when you break it down, it's about four kilograms of kava per person annually if half the population drinks. 'Some drink more, some less. But even at that level, it's a solid figure for a country this size.' In 2023, China was the world's largest importer of raw kava, but 99 per cent of it went towards extract production for re-export. 'China was never a market for kava,' Louze said. 'It made more sense for the bulk product to go through China. But in Kiribati, it's different. They're drinking it – no processing, no re-export. Pure consumption.' But one Kiribati kava bar owner, Kantaake Robapi, said there's too many of them now. 'Each village has a kava bar. There are too many kava bars in Kiribati. 'You pay AUD$150 [approximately US$97] for a licence. The Ministry of Health checks the premises – the toilets, tools for cleaning kava. Once they approve, you pay your fee to the Tarawa council.' Kiribati's Minister for Women, Youth and Sports, Ruth Cross Kwansing, has raised concerns about kava's effects on society. Kwansing told the ABC the impact of high kava consumption is being felt at homes. 'If fathers aren't home with their children and their wives, then obviously they're not looking after their families and their children,' she said. 'If they're spending all the money on kava, then where's the funds that the family needs for food and basic essentials?' She said men were exhausted from late-night kava drinking and not able to cut toddy or go out fishing and were not productive at home. Meanwhile, Tonga is calling on fellow Pacific kava producers to follow its lead in restricting the export of kava for extraction – a move that has sparked strong pushback from Vanuatu and Fiji, the region's two largest kava exporters. Tonga's positioncomes from concerns over cultural erosion and potential misuse, and promotes the idea that kava should only be consumed in its traditional, drinkable form – not processed into extracts for capsules, powders, or supplements abroad. There's also worries about a shortage in Vanuatu. Louze linked the shortage to several causes: the increasing number of kava farmers joining seasonal work programmes in Australia and New Zealand, damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Harold on Pentecost in 2020, and growing demand in the Port Vila market. A kava plant takes more than five years to mature before it can be harvested. 'People in Port Vila are consuming tons of kava every week, but they are not planting it,' he said. 'The population is growing rapidly, and more young men and women are drinking kava daily.' But he also said farmers cannot go wrong with planting kava with demand both locally and internationally growing, and prices have never been so high.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Business
- Scoop
Kiribati's Considerable Kava Consumption
Kiribati was the world's largest consumer of Vanuatu kava in 2024. The Vanuatu Daily Post reported that last year the country imported 280 metric tonnes of kava from Vanuatu. Michael Louze, former chairman of the Vanuatu Kava Industry and a kava exporter to the United States, said when you break it down, it's about four kilograms of kava per person annually if half the population drinks. "Some drink more, some less. But even at that level, it's a solid figure for a country this size." In 2023, China was the world's largest importer of raw kava, but 99 per cent of it went towards extract production for re-export. "China was never a market for kava," Louze said. "It made more sense for the bulk product to go through China. But in Kiribati, it's different. They're drinking it - no processing, no re-export. Pure consumption." But one Kiribati kava bar owner, Kantaake Robapi, said there's too many of them now. "Each village has a kava bar. There are too many kava bars in Kiribati. "You pay AUD$150 [approximately US$97] for a licence. The Ministry of Health checks the premises - the toilets, tools for cleaning kava. Once they approve, you pay your fee to the Tarawa council." Kiribati's Minister for Women, Youth and Sports, Ruth Cross Kwansing, has raised concerns about kava's effects on society. Kwansing told the ABC the impact of high kava consumption is being felt at homes. "If fathers aren't home with their children and their wives, then obviously they're not looking after their families and their children," she said. "If they're spending all the money on kava, then where's the funds that the family needs for food and basic essentials?" She said men were exhausted from late-night kava drinking and not able to cut toddy or go out fishing and were not productive at home. Meanwhile, Tonga is calling on fellow Pacific kava producers to follow its lead in restricting the export of kava for extraction - a move that has sparked strong pushback from Vanuatu and Fiji, the region's two largest kava exporters. Tonga's positioncomes from concerns over cultural erosion and potential misuse, and promotes the idea that kava should only be consumed in its traditional, drinkable form - not processed into extracts for capsules, powders, or supplements abroad. There's also worries about a shortage in Vanuatu. Louze linked the shortage to several causes: the increasing number of kava farmers joining seasonal work programmes in Australia and New Zealand, damage caused by Tropical Cyclone Harold on Pentecost in 2020, and growing demand in the Port Vila market. A kava plant takes more than five years to mature before it can be harvested. "People in Port Vila are consuming tons of kava every week, but they are not planting it," he said. "The population is growing rapidly, and more young men and women are drinking kava daily." But he also said farmers cannot go wrong with planting kava with demand both locally and internationally growing, and prices have never been so high.
The Guardian
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
I Fagiolini review – startlingly intense surround-sound baroque
I Fagiolini may be a small vocal ensemble, but their director Robert Hollingworth thinks big, always pushing boundaries in an imaginative way. Their 2023 recording of music by the 17th century Orazio Benevoli – a leading composer in Rome's post-Palestrina era – was much admired and they're now exploring more of Benevoli's masses for multiple choirs. Bristol's St George's, whose gallery runs on three full sides of the former church, offered an excellent setting. In Benevoli's Missa Angelus Domini for three choirs of four voices – a single voice to each part as was the usual practice – the complexity of the interweaving lines emerged with clarity, the singing gutsy rather than overly refined. Individual voices were free to come through the texture with colourful flourishes when appropriate, the primacy of the text paramount and the two chamber organs and theorbo added subtle detail. This programme's overall theme was the feast of Pentecost, with Palestrina's motet Dum Complerentur – the mighty rushing wind of the Holy Spirit reflected in graceful ascending phrases – preceding Benevoli's Missa Dum Complerentur for four choirs, plus four doubling choirs. I Fagiolini voices were now divided into two choirs on stage and two choirs above them on either side, with the four further choirs – the Bristol University Singers, schooled by Hollingworth – strategically positioned around the gallery, surround sound baroque-style. Familiar as this might be in Venetian composers such as Giovanni Gabrieli, Benevoli's more modernist approach clearly sought new effects. The choirs' antiphonal exchanges were striking, with the lines where entries in close imitation by the four doubling choirs moving round the auditorium sounding quite magical. The cumulative wonder of the Credo's final Amen alone felt like justification, were it needed, for Benevoli to be better acknowledged. In both these masses, Hollingworth interpolated a different composer between the Gloria and the Credo. Greg Skidmore was the dramatically expressive soloist in Audio Coelum from Monteverdi's Vespers, the echoing voice at the back of the gallery giving the spatial dimension here. Infantas's Loquebantur Variis Linguis for eight voices was a startlingly intense experience, again underlining how refreshing and welcome I Fagiolini's advocacy of such less well-known repertoire is. At the Stour festival, Kent, on 22 June
Herald Malaysia
22-05-2025
- General
- Herald Malaysia
Pope Leo XIV: 'Christ is our Saviour, and in Him, we are one family'
Pope Leo XIV praises the important global efforts of the Pontifical Mission Societies, marveling that they are "effectively the 'primary means' of awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized and supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young. May 22, 2025 Pope Leo receives Pontifical Mission Societies in the Vatican (@Vatican Media) By Deborah Castellano Lubov"Today, as in the days after Pentecost, the Church, led by the Holy Spirit, pursues Her journey through history with trust, joy and courage as She proclaims the name of Jesus and the salvation born of faith in the saving truth of the Gospel. The Pontifical Mission Societies are an important part of this great effort." Pope Leo XIV gave this encouragement to the Societies on Thursday morning in the Vatican on the occasion of their General Assembly. "In their work of coordinating missionary formation and animating a missionary spirit on the local level," he urged, "I would ask the National Directors to give priority to visiting dioceses, parishes and communities, and in this way to help the faithful to recognize the fundamental importance of the missions and supporting our brothers and sisters in those areas of our world where the Church is young and growing." Speaking in English, the Holy Father, who remembered his own time as a missionary, commended those representing more than 120 countries before him for their meaningful work for the Church in the world. 'I can personally attest' "I begin by expressing my gratitude to you and your associates for your dedicated service, which is indispensable to the Church's mission of evangelization, as I can personally attest from my years of pastoral ministry in Peru." "The Pontifical Mission Societies are effectively the 'primary means,'' he stated, of "awakening missionary responsibility among all the baptized and supporting ecclesial communities in areas where the Church is young." In this context, the Pope drew attention to the Society for the Propagation of the Faith, "which provides aid for pastoral and catechetical programmes, the building of new churches, healthcare, and educational needs in mission territories" and the Society of the Holy Childhood, which provides support for Christian formation programmes for children, in addition to caring for their basic needs and protection. Likewise, he cited the Society of Saint Peter the Apostle to "help cultivate missionary vocations, priestly and religious," and the Missionary Union "committed to forming priests, religious men and women, and all the people of God for the Church's missionary work." Our world needs to hear Gospel message of God's love The promotion of apostolic zeal among the People of God, Pope Leo underscored, "remains an essential aspect of the Church's renewal as envisioned by the Second Vatican Council, and is all the more urgent in our own day." "Our world, wounded by war, violence, and injustice," he insisted, "needs to hear the Gospel message of God's love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ's grace." 'Our world, wounded by war, violence and injustice needs to hear the Gospel message of God's love and to experience the reconciling power of Christ's grace.' In this sense, the Church herself, the Holy Father reaffirmed, is increasingly called to be 'a missionary Church that opens its arms to the world, proclaims the Word … and becomes a leaven of harmony for humanity.' Urgency to bring Christ to all people Given this, Pope Leo XIV said, "We are to bring to all peoples, indeed to all creatures, the Gospel promise of true and lasting peace, which is possible because, in the words of Pope Francis, 'the Lord has overcome the world and its constant conflict 'by making peace through the blood of His Cross.'' Hence, he suggested, "we see the importance of fostering a spirit of missionary discipleship in all the baptized and a sense of the urgency of bringing Christ to all people." The Pope expressed his gratitude to them and their associates for their efforts each year in promoting World Mission Sunday on the second-to-last Sunday of October, "which is of immense help to me in my solicitude for the Churches in areas under the care of the Dicastery for Evangelization." In Christ, we are one family of God Before concluding his remarks, the Pope chose to reflect on two distinctive elements of the Societies' identity, namely communion and universality. "As Societies committed to sharing in the missionary mandate of the Pope and the College of Bishops," he explained, "you are called to cultivate and further promote within your members the vision of the Church as the communion of believers, enlivened by the Holy Spirit, who enables us to enter into the perfect communion and harmony of the blessed Trinity." "Indeed," he marveled, "it is in the Trinity that all things find their unity." With this sentiment, Pope Leo said, "This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart, and is reflected in the words of Saint Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and for my papal ministry: In Illo uno unum . Christ is our Saviour and in Him we are one, a family of God, beyond the rich variety of our languages, cultures and experiences." 'This dimension of our Christian life and mission is close to my heart, and is reflected in the words of Saint Augustine that I chose for my episcopal service and for my papal ministry...' The richness that comes from knowing Jesus Christ The appreciation of our communion as members of the Body of Christ, the Holy Father explained, naturally "opens us to the universal dimension of the Church's mission of evangelization," and "inspires us to transcend the confines of our individual parishes, dioceses and nations, in order to share with every nation and people the surpassing richness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. " Finally, Pope Leo concluded by reminding them that the Holy Year challenges all of us to be 'pilgrims of hope,' and thus, before entrusting them, their benefactors, and "their important work" to the Blessed Mother, encouraged them to be 'missionaries of hope among all peoples.' --Vatican News
