The Cuban Cigar of Micronesia?

ack in 1982, when Ben Yorormad first started exporting Yapese betel nut to Saipan, he raised a few eyebrows. "People would say 'Why is this guy selling betel nut?'" Yorormad recounts sitting inside the auto shop that doubles as his betel nut exporting office in Yap Proper. Chewing betel nut was cultural, not commercial.

Now things have changed. More than 20 years later few people are still raising an eyebrow at Yorormad's business acumen. "Now, everybody wants to sell betel nut," Yorormad says.

Consider the numbers. According to Yap's agriculture department, from March 2003 to February 2004, Yap exported 211 tons of betel nut, or 423,000 pounds. During that same period, Yap Proper, which has 7,000 residents, also exported 16.3 tons, or 33,000 pounds of the pepper leaf used when chewing betel nut. The value of Yap betel nut exports during that time was $3 million. And those numbers have been steady for several years.

"Copra used to be our number one export. We dried the copra and exported it to Asian countries. Now betel nut is our number one cash crop," says Yap Gov. Robert Ruecho. "The money realized for fish export is not near betel nut."

Ruecho says the amount of betel nut exported is likely even higher than indicated, because there are no statistics on people who check betel nut as personal luggage. The export numbers come only from airfreight on Continental Micronesia. Betel nut export is not taxed under government incentives to increase exports and reduce trade imbalances. And there is potential for growth, Ruecho says. It is not uncommon for boxes to be left behind because the plane cargo hold is full.

Yapese chief Charles Chieng prepares a chew of betel nut with pepper leaf and lime. Photo: Scott Radway

Yap betel nut is sent primarily to Guam and Saipan, then Chuuk and smaller amounts to Palau. But on occasion, Yap betel reaches as far as the Marshall Islands, Yorormad says. He sends up to 30 boxes of betel nut on each of the three flights out of Yap each week. In all, there are about a dozen exporters, although betel nut exports involve just about everyone in Yap. The betel is not grown on farms. "We didn't plant it. It's just there in the boonies," Yorormad explains. He and the other exporters buy it straight from the villages. People can either bring it in to an exporter, or give it to agents who are paid on commission to go around the villages and collect the bags of betel nut.

The price he pays for betel in Yap and the price he sells it for in Saipan depends on the season and availability of betel nut. The dry season tends to push up the price. On average, in Yap people can sell a large Ziploc bag filled with betel nut to an exporter for $2 to $4 dollars, Yorormad says. He sells it to stores in Saipan, where a customer can buy seven pieces of Yap betel nut for 75 cents.

Betel is a mildly narcotic drug, similar to tobacco in cost and use, and is addictive. Betel nut chewing is common in some parts of the Pacific Islands and betel nut trees are found throughout the Islands. In Yap nearly everyone chews, and they chew a lot.

The popularity of Yap betel nut in Micronesia is supported by the export numbers. Some say it is stronger or tastes better. Yorormad says his client base has grown as other islands have suffered betel nut shortages and people give Yap betel nut a taste. "They have a hard time going back," he says. However Pohnpei has already begun planting more betel nut trees with the intention of building its export industry and challenging Yap's production.

Ruecho says he wants to work with communities in Yap to increase productivity. Increased competition will test whether Yap betel nut is too good to pass up for other alternatives, and whether Yap is indeed home to the Cuban cigar of betel nut.

For now, the betel nut trade has fuelled an entrepreneurial spirit in Yap. While Yorormad was the only exporter for 10 years, he says people in the villages now try to ratchet-up the price they charge for a bag of betel nut, playing him against his competitors.

"Before we used it for our customs; now we use it to make money," he says.