 Koa is highly prized hardwood that can sell for prices as high as $150 a board foot, a special measurement indicating one-foot by one-foot by one-inch wood piece.Koa is currently being grown on plantations to support this high demand, yet some plantations have a 90% tree mortality rate over several years due to Koa wilt.It is also a legume, giving it the ability to form symbiosis with nitrogen fixing bacteria, which has led to efforts to use koa in agroecological systems with crops such as coffee and cacao.