Economy of Pentecost

pan>society, not only as food but as a traditional item of value, which may be given as payment during marriage ceremonies or as compensation for transgressions. Boars with long, curved tusks are particularly prized. Woven, red-dyed mats are also used as a traditional form of currency.

Traditionally, copra (dried coconut meat) was Pentecost's main export, but this has now been overtaken by kava, a narcotic root used to prepare a traditional drink. Kava is grown and drunk on many islands in the South Pacific, but Pentecost is particularly well known for it, and much of the kava drunk in Vanuatu's towns and abroad originates on Pentecost.

Cattle were once exported from Pentecost to the meat-processing factory at Luganville on neighbouring Santo island. However, most are now