KEY POINTS:
As much of the world embarks on a frenzy of Christmas consumerism, Vanuatu is stubbornly heading in the opposite direction.
It is spurning the cash economy and instead reviving ancient currencies such as pigs, pig tusks, woven grass mats and sea shells.
The Government of Prime Minister Ham Lini declared 2007 the Year of the Traditional Economy and has now extended the campaign into next year.
The initiative has been fuelled by fears that the harsh imperatives of capitalism could destroy Vanuatu's traditional way of life, based on subsistence farming and complicated cultural exchanges.
There is grave concern that the emphasis on acquiring material wealth will lure islanders to shanty towns on the outskirts of the capital, Port Vila, where most will encounter unemployment, poverty and frustration. In rural areas, by contrast, hunger and homelessness are unheard of.
"The mantra of the World Bank and similar organisations is to make as much cash as you can, as fast as you can," said Ralph Regenvanu, an anthropologist from the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and a driving force behind the campaign. "The traditional economy has served us well for thousands of years. We're trying to preserve our cultural heritage in the face of development."
As part of the renaissance, schools and clinics are allowing villagers to pay fees with vegetables and kava roots. Of all Vanuatu's traditional currencies, the most prized are pigs with curly tusks - villagers knock out the animals' upper teeth in order to let the tusks grow unimpeded.
Even more esteemed are hairless pigs from the southern island of Tanna and, in the north of the country, a rare breed of hermaphrodite pig. With the help of Unesco, authorities are setting up banks for traditional forms of wealth such as pig tusks and shell necklaces, and studying ways of setting informal exchange rates with the national currency, the vatu.
In 2005, the National Council of Chiefs decreed that cash could no longer be used as "bride price" for marriages and that young men wanting to get married should instead make payments in goods such as woven pandanus mats, pigs and yams. Nearly 80 per cent of Vanuatu's 210,000 people are farmers, growing their own food in rich soils blessed with high rainfall and plentiful sunshine.
"It easy to grow taro, sweet potato, banana and manioc," said Toren Bong, a community leader on the island of Ambrym, where lush rainforest sweeps down from the bare ash plains of two live volcanoes. "We use sling shots or bows and arrows to shoot flying foxes [fruit bats] and in the forest we hunt wild pigs and wild cattle."
The reliance on a modest but healthy subsistence diet was one reason why Vanuatu was nominated the world's happiest country in a 2006 Happy Planet Index, compiled by the New Economics Foundation.
The index of 178 nations, which ranked New Zealand as 94th happiest country, was based on consumption levels, eco-footprint, life expectancy and all-round contentedness, rather than conventional wealth measurements such as Gross Domestic Product.
"We've realised that money isn't everything," said Fred Toka, an authority on traditional customs from the island of Ambae. "Why buy canned fish when you can go out and catch fresh fish?"
Some traditional currencies are now considered too impractical to revive. On the island of Erromango, for instance, giant clam shells were once considered highly valuable. But the idea of preserving other ancient forms of wealth is taking hold. "The challenge is to raise awareness among politicians, government departments and businesses in Port Vila."
Said Regenvanu: "We need to recognise that the traditional economy is the reason why we were voted the world's happiest country."
