2010 | Seboko Low-cost Tunnel System

The Seboko low-cost tunnel system for small-scale farmers was the outcome of a participatory design project by Kyle Brand undertaken in his BTech Industrial Design in 2010. I was the supervisor for the project.

Overview:

Small-scale farmers face many problems in  South Africa and development in this area of  food production is very important to alleviate poverty. This project was approached with no preconceived idea of a specific problem, but rather a method to identify a problem with the assistance of the farmers. The methodology used was participatory action research, and more specifically user-centred design.

The location and user group for this project was a farming collective know as Rainbow Nation Farmers. They are a non-profit community-based project in the Nancefield area South of Johannesburg. This collective had 28 committed farmers with 249 household dependants. They use about 6 hectares of land divided among the farmers. The produce is then sold locally in the area and to markets in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg

The project started by attempting to identify poignant problems which the farmers faced. To achieve this individual interviews, group discussions and general observations were undertaken. A recurring theme of frost and hail damage to crops was apparent and therefore collectively decided as the focus of the design intervention.

Large commercial farming tunnels solve the season problem of frost and hail for large-scale farming but this is economically out of reach of most small-scale farmers. The design intervention was therefore conceptualised as a small tunnel like system for covering the crops. It needed to be completely modular so that it could be expanded at a later stage (as the farmers develop their farms). It needed to be low-cost (affordable within the income bracket of small-scale farmers). It should rely on resources available to small-scale farmers. It should optimise the use of materials for cost and environmental considerations. It needed to be easy to use and simple to assemble (taking into consideration literacy levels).

Please contact Kyle Brand for more information, or visit his personal website to see more of his professional design work: www.kylebrand.com

Outcomes: