News24 | How a Grade 9 dropout went on to earn a PhD in Crop Science

Lusanda Ncisana, who once dropped out of high school for two years, has earned a PhD in Crop Science.

Supplied/University of KwaZulu-Natal

• Lusanda Ncisana will graduate from UKZN this month with a PhD in Crop Science.
• Raised in Mthatha, Ncisana overcame financial, personal and academic setbacks through what he calls “active hope”.
• His research explored water-efficient agriculture, finding that newly developed forage radish genotypes could maintain comparable yields while using substantially less irrigation water.

When Lusanda Ncisana walked away from school after Grade 9, there was little indication that he would one day stand on a university stage wearing a doctoral gown.

But two years after leaving, following his initiation, something changed.

Ncisana returned to school with a renewed sense of purpose, determined to continue his education despite the financial, personal and academic obstacles that lay ahead.

This month, the young man raised in Ngangelizwe in Mthatha, Eastern Cape, will graduate from the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) with a PhD in Crop Science.

For Ncisana, the journey from leaving school to earning a doctorate is a story of what he calls “active hope”, refusing to allow difficult circumstances to determine what is possible.

He says:

Education was never simply about obtaining a qualification; it was about creating opportunities where none seemed to exist.

His return to education taught him lessons in discipline, responsibility, respect, humility and service.

After completing his secondary education, he worked for two years before enrolling for a Bachelor of Science degree at the University of Fort Hare.

But his university journey was soon tested.

Having successfully completed his first year, including earning distinctions in several modules, Ncisana was unable to register for his second year due to funding challenges with the National Student Financial Aid Scheme.

Instead of returning home, he continued attending classes while searching for a way to resolve the problem.

His persistence eventually led him to the Office of the Premier in the Eastern Cape, where a secretary explained the process for applying for financial assistance.

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Ncisana followed the advice, secured funding, and was able to register.

“That experience reinforced a lesson that continues to guide me today: solutions become more meaningful when they are shared with others,” he says.

But there would be more obstacles.

Ncisana lost his mother, whose belief in him had been an important source of strength.

Later, while pursuing his doctorate, the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted his research plans, while other academic and career challenges continued to test his resilience.

Through it all, books became an important source of guidance.

“Reading became my way of finding answers, developing new perspectives and solving problems,” says Ncisana.

It was through this approach that he developed his philosophy of “active hope”.

He explains:

Passive hope waits for circumstances to improve, while active hope takes action, seeks knowledge, adapts to change and believes that tomorrow can be better because of what we do today.

For Ncisana, that philosophy was not born in a university laboratory.

His interest in science and environmental stewardship began while he was still at school.

At Nxeko Mtirara Senior Primary School, his natural sciences teacher, Ma’am Ndesi, noticed his curiosity and selected him for an SABC science outreach programme.

There, he demonstrated the importance of conserving and using water wisely.

At Zimele Junior Secondary School, Ma’am Mgquba regularly selected him to accompany Grade 7 pupils to environmental awareness programmes organised by the King Sabata Dalindyebo municipality.

Years later, those early experiences would find new expression in his doctoral research.

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Ncisana’s PhD, supervised by Dr Ntuthuko Mkhize and Professor Tafadzwa Mabhaudhi, is titled “Responses of Selected Forage Brassica (Raphanus sativus) Genotypes to Water Stress”.

His research focused on one of South Africa’s pressing agricultural challenges: how to produce food while using increasingly scarce water resources more efficiently.

His findings showed that newly developed forage radish genotypes could maintain comparable yields while using substantially less irrigation water, contributing knowledge towards climate-smart and water-efficient agriculture.

Now a university lecturer at the University of Limpopo, Ncisana is turning his attention to another part of his mission, helping the next generation of scientists.

He says:

My work extends beyond publishing research; it is about using science to solve real-world problems and empowering students to realise that their circumstances do not define their potential.

For someone who once left school after Grade 9, the doctorate represents far more than an academic qualification.

Ncisana believes education can help break the cycle of poverty and create lasting change, particularly for young people from disadvantaged communities.

Looking back on the setbacks that could have derailed his journey, he believes success is shaped less by the absence of obstacles than by how people respond to them.

“Success is rarely determined by the absence of obstacles. Rather, it is shaped by the decisions we make when confronted with them,” he says.

And his message to young people is rooted in the same philosophy that carried him from Ngangelizwe to a PhD in Crop Science.

“Their future is defined not by where they begin, but by the choices they make each day.”

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