With so much nostalgia, I remember every bit of my childhood play around the granary. This grain storage built-form is a symbol of indigenous rural livelihood sustenance and it has almost become extinct. In addition to the physical extinction of this built-form and the massive disruption of the livelihoods associated with its demise, there is the larger loss of the intellectual heritage that underpinned the rich principles of their planning, design and sustainability.

For security, it is preferable to place it in the courtyard, protecting it as much as possible from the main winds and from rain, particularly the facade with the door. Granaries are often made of mud in the shape of the container, sometimes as large as a house and could have several compartments; and covered by a thatched roof structure. The size, quality and sophistication in construction of the structure vary considerably but the main principles involve protection from dampness, insect pests and theft. Protection from dampness from rain is prevented by a thatched roof structure; ground seepage of moisture by raising the raft with limited contact points on which the structure rests; and from humidity by the use of absorbents and sealants like the use of cow-dung plastering. Several indigenous pesticides are used to protect the grain and the limiting of contact points with the ground where insect repellents are sprinkled or smeared around the stones that uphold the raft. Lastly, protection from theft involves the use of very small openings for grain retrieval (size of the opening is often designed to only allow small children to enter).