Final answer:
Central Mexico is the region that began independently cultivating maize about six thousand years ago. It played a vital role in the development of Mesoamerican civilizations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The region that independently began cultivating maize about six thousand years ago is d. central Mexico. Maize, also known as corn in the United States, was domesticated from a type of wild grass known as teosinte between 5000 and 3000 BCE. The earliest domesticated maize likely emerged in the Tehuacán Valley or the highlands of Oaxaca. As part of the Neolithic revolution, maize became an important staple in the diet of the people in this region and contributed significantly to the rise of Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Olmec, Teotihuacan, and Maya.
Concerning African regions and their agricultural developments, it was a. West Africa that independently developed agriculture based on yams. In summary, while agriculture began in different regions around the globe, central Mexico is credited with the independent cultivation of maize as a critical step towards the establishment of settled agricultural societies in the Americas.