Du Plessis

Jean-Pierre DU PLESSIS

A regenerative agricultural core as an alternative to land reform in Limpopo, South Africa

Supervisor Co-supervisor Dr MJ Stander, PhD (Arch) Mr MJV Mokaba, MTechArch (Prof)

South Africa is the most economically unequal country in the world. The origins of economic inequality can be found in South Africa’s history of Apartheid. After South Africa’s political transition to democracy, land reform was implemented to bring about equality by redressing inequality of land ownership through improved access to de-racialised and secure land ownership. The secondary intention of land reform was to reduce poverty and food insecurity, but slow progress has been made over the past 26 years.

The current land reform model is promoting large-scale farming as the only viable option, even though the history of black African farmers has demonstrated the effectiveness of small and medium-scale agriculture.

During Apartheid, black African farmers were disconnected from urban centres and displaced to rural communities that were, and still are, poorly serviced with little infrastructure. Therefore, this dissertation explored the design of an agricultural facility, centralised amongst several previously disadvantaged communities within Limpopo to:

1. Assist in the regeneration of the black African farmer to a competitive entity within the agricultural markets of South Africa through skills development and access to agricultural facilities and equipment

2. Connect upcoming small-scale farmers to urban centres through an agricultural packhouse and distribution centre that will expectantly promote small and medium scale farming as a viable option to subsistence farmers

3. Strengthen rural-urban interdependency through the promotion of the agricultural sector within rural areas

The agricultural core explored in this research concentrated on the community of Ga-Poopedi in Limpopo, South Africa. The project developed was done so to serve as an archetype for supporting other previously disadvantaged communities in overcoming poverty.

Keywords

Agriculture, architecture, inequality, land reform, regenerative, rural development