How to Choose a Site for a Commercial Greenhouse in Africa

A suitable greenhouse site gives a particular crop a credible route to a paying market, with the water, power, people and infrastructure needed to produce it. Cheap land alone provides little basis for that decision.

Site selection should happen before the greenhouse specification is fixed. The location affects climate control, resource demand, logistics and operating costs. Those effects need to be assessed together.

Define the commercial purpose

Begin with the market the project intends to serve. Identify the crops, product specifications, delivery destinations and production periods under consideration.

Distance matters, but travel time and reliability are more useful measures than a line on a map. Check the actual delivery route, loading arrangements and access during difficult weather. Establish where packing and cold storage would take place.

A site close to a city may offer a short delivery journey but carry higher land costs or restrictions on expansion. A remote site may offer space while requiring investment in housing, transport, utilities and management support. Include these consequences in the comparison.

Examine the climate through the year

Annual averages can conceal the periods that are hardest to manage. Review temperature, humidity, solar radiation and wind together, including seasonal patterns and extreme conditions.

The questions should be specific to the crop and intended design. Will the greenhouse need cooling during the planned production period? What happens during humid nights? Can the design maintain acceptable conditions during a heatwave, and at what resource cost?

Wageningen University & Research describes this connection between local climate, crop requirements and greenhouse design in its integrated design guidance. A design developed elsewhere needs to be assessed against the proposed site's conditions.

Where modelling is used, record the weather source and period. Identify whether nearby hills, coastlines or other local features may make regional data less representative.

Verify the water supply

Assess how much water is available, its quality, the permitted use and the reliability of supply through the year. A borehole's existence does not establish that it can supply the planned farm sustainably.

Obtain the investigations appropriate to the source and a laboratory analysis suited to the intended use. Include irrigation, cooling, cleaning and treatment requirements in the demand assessment. Establish the storage needed for interruptions and peak use.

Water quality can change the treatment design, operating costs and options for reuse. Our guide to commercial greenhouse water requirements explains the whole-site assessment.

Check power and practical access

Confirm the available electrical capacity, the connection work required and the likely timetable. Ask how the farm would operate during an interruption and what additional equipment or fuel arrangements would be necessary.

Inspect the route used for construction deliveries as well as produce dispatch. The site may need to receive large structural components, equipment and regular supplies. Access constraints should be priced before procurement begins.

Recruitment also belongs in the site assessment. Consider the local labour pool, supervisory skills, staff transport and access to specialist maintenance. These are ongoing operating requirements.

Identify conditions that can rule out a site

Some weaknesses can be addressed through design; others can make the project unsuitable. Establish the distinction before assigning scores.

A useful screening record asks:

• Is the land available for the intended use, subject to the necessary local checks?
• Can a dependable water supply meet the proposed demand?
• Can power and access be provided within the budget and programme?
• Can the crop reach the intended market at an acceptable delivered cost?
• Are flooding, contamination or other site risks understood well enough to proceed?

Refer legal, environmental and engineering questions to the relevant local specialists. Record unresolved conditions explicitly, rather than averaging them into an attractive overall score.

Compare complete project options

The final comparison should show the design each site requires, total capital expenditure, operating implications and remaining uncertainty. It should also explain what further investigation would change the recommendation.

Drylands' investor advisory services bring site screening into the wider feasibility process. If you have shortlisted land, discuss an assessment of the candidate sites before committing to a greenhouse design.