HEYUPE QUAZANGUE is a typical villager but has a somewhat innovative mindset. From Gua on the Kabwum side of Teptep, he has many things going on in his backyard. He grows everything that could grow there, food crops, cash crops, alternative crops, herbal plants, ferns, anything that he sees that has some use in them. Not in large quantity, few rows of each if you like. Heyupe also raises different livestock species. “No market here so we cannot grow anything in large quantities. I do what I do out of interest and for my own use. We even grow quality organic coffee here but we no longer have any market. Some arrangements existed some years ago where locals here used to sell their beans but has fallen apart since. So no hope really”.
Interventions and trainings introduced by NARI through the EU CCR project, has further motivated Heyupe. “NARI has brought us some good things and I have added a few more things now. I now feed my pigs with sweetpotato silage. I have also tried making some feed concentrate for my livestock. It has not worked out on the first attempt but I will work around it and get it correct. I attended the training only last week so I hope to get it correct after a few more attempts”, says Heyupe. As village leader, he is also in-charge of the mini-seed multiplication site at Gua. It is one of the mini-seed gardens established outside from the Provincial Department of Agriculture and Livestock managed central seed multiplication plot at Teptep station. “I have already supplied seed materials to members my community here. Wheat seeds will be the next’.
Heyupe says NARI’s presence has motivated the community. “Not many state agencies come this way. Not one that I could recall. It is good that NARI has chosen Teptep. Farming here has been a part our lives but the new things that NARI has shown us will further improve what we do’. Asked what the most useful skill he has come to learn, Heyupe says ‘everything but things like sweet potato silage, wheat, and processing are already complimenting to what I do. I could not speak for everyone here, but one thing is certain, the entire community is pleased and motivated by the presence of NARI here. And yes, thank you NARI’.
