Sibulele Ncalo

The project is situated in Engcobo, a rural municipality within the Chris Hani District of the Eastern Cape, positioned between the regional towns of Umthatha and Komani (formerly Queenstown). Here, subsistence agriculture remains the backbone of household survival, with maize at its centre. More than just a staple crop, maize (umbona) embodies nutritional, cultural, and spiritual significance. It is the grain of ceremonies, rituals, and everyday meals, binding people to both land and heritage.

Despite this centrality, smallholder farmers face persistent challenges. Seasonal rainfall has become erratic, with heavy December storms often destroying crops at maturity, while delayed rains in other years prevent germination. Soil degradation, driven by continuous monocropping in larger outfields, further diminishes yields. Free-roaming livestock and pests compound these losses. In home gardens, typically 0.5 to 1 hectare in size, limited rotation provides some diversity, but the burden of poor soils and unpredictable climate remains. Crucially, there is also a growing gap in agricultural knowledge: many farmers cannot identify the maize varieties they plant, relying instead on taste and memory. Landrace varieties are cherished for their flavour and cultural resonance, yet they yield poorly and struggle under shifting climatic pressures.

This thesis proposes an agricultural training center designed for and with Engcobo’s farming communities. The centre will serve as a space where farmers, youth, and elders can share and acquire knowledge about soil rehabilitation, sustainable cultivation, and maize propa- gation. It will balance indigenous wisdom with scientific expertise enabling farmers to experiment with varietal selection, improve pest management, and rebuild fertility through practices rooted in the land itself. In doing so, the project aims not only to strengthen food security but also to restore dignity to farming, reconnect people to soil as a living resource, and preserve maize as both sustenance and symbol of cultural identity.