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Greenhouse Developments

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Greenhouse Developments

Country
Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Food and Beverage
Sub Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Food and Agriculture
Indicative Return
Describes the rate of growth an investment is expected to generate within the IOA. The indicative return is identified for the IOA by establishing its Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Return of Investment (ROI) or Gross Profit Margin (GPM).
> 25% (in IRR)
Investment Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.
Medium Term (5–10 years)
Market Size
Describes the value of potential addressable market of the IOA. The market size is identified for the IOA by establishing the value in USD, identifying the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) or providing a numeric unit critical to the IOA.
5% - 10% (CAGR)
Average Ticket Size (USD)
Describes the USD amount for a typical investment required in the IOA.
USD 500,000 - USD 1 million
Direct Impact
Describes the primary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
Zero Hunger (SDG 2) Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
Indirect Impact
Describes the secondary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9) Life on Land (SDG 15) No Poverty (SDG 1)

Business Model Description

Establish and operate greenhouse facilities for agricultural production which offer controlled environments that enable year-round cultivation of various crops, including vegetables, herbs, flowers, and specialty plants, leveraging the advantages of greenhouses, such as climate control, increased productivity, and efficient resource utilization, to produce high-quality crops and generate sustainable revenue streams.

Expected Impact

Reform local agriculture, enhance food security, and promote sustainable farming practices, thereby driving economic growth, reducing import dependency, and mitigating environmental pressures.

How is this information gathered?

Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.

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Country & Regions

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Country
Region
  • Albania: Fier
  • Albania: Berat
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Sector Classification

Situate the investment opportunity within sustainability focused sector, subsector and industry classifications.
Sector

Food and Beverage

Development need
Agriculture constituted 20% of GDP in 2021 while employing 34% of the workforce, yet productivity still needs to improve due to technological deficiencies. Agricultural value chains remain fragmented and are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change, predicted to cause a 1.5 billion m3 of water storage per season (1, 2, 11).

Policy priority
The National Strategy for Development and Integration includes enhancing farm viability and competitiveness of agricultural processing while keeping alignment with European Union standards. Economic Reform Program targets increasing the capacity of farmers to own a greater share of the added value in the food supply chain while promoting locally produced and processed goods under the joint Made in Albania brand (3, 12).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Agriculture is mainly driven by small farms (averaging 1.13 hectares), with roughly half of the population consisting of small, often female, impoverished, and food-insecure farmers. Lack of employment opportunities outside agriculture and low incomes from farming greatly contribute to rural poverty, with nearly 60% of the population living in rural areas at risk of poverty, the highest level in Europe (4, 6, 13).

Investment opportunities introduction
Traditional agricultural methods provide a competitive edge in European markets, as over 95% of the country's medicinal-aromatic plants are exported. Additionally, the country offers a zero VAT on agricultural machinery imports and a reduced 10% VAT on agricultural input supplies. Agriculture is listed as a strategic sector by the Albanian Investment Development Agency (AIDA), covering agro-processing, farms and collection warehouses (1, 5, 15).

Key bottlenecks introduction
Land ownership and utilization are fragmented, while agricultural land markets remain undeveloped. Lack of information on safety standards leads to non-compliance among farmers, resulting in limited market access for exports, with Additionally, farmers face difficulties in modernizing production methods while preserving natural resources and ensuring rural livelihoods (6, 16, 17).

Sub Sector

Food and Agriculture

Development need
Amidst significant out-migration at 1.68 million people, comprising 59% of the resident population, and a 21.8% rural poverty rate in 2021, it is essential to enhance productivity and ensure the sustainability of family farms through resilient agricultural practices to realize Agenda 2030 (9, 10, 7).

Policy priority
The Rural Development Programme 2014-2020 Under Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA) and The Inter Sectoral Agriculture and Rural Development Strategy 2014-2020 both focus on developing a viable agri-food sector and vibrant rural areas to align with EU standards and cope with competitive pressures (6, 21).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Approximately 1.6 million people reside on farms, with women comprising 47% of this population. However, while women make up 39% of the agricultural workforce, they represent only 4% of farm holders (14, 6).

Investment opportunities introduction
The value chains for vegetables, fruits, and medicinal aromatic plants have witnessed significant expansion in terms of both cultivation areas and overall production. This growth can be attributed to robust export demand, favorable climatic conditions, and various support programs from the Albanian government, IPARD, and other donor agencies (5).

Key bottlenecks introduction
The agribusiness sector grapples with informality, posing challenges for increasing local product procurement. Moreover, it exhibits the lowest value-added per agricultural worker in the region as majority of farming activities are carried out by smallholder farmers on average plots of just 1 hectare (1).

Industry

Agricultural Products

Pipeline Opportunity

Discover the investment opportunity and its corresponding business model.
Investment Opportunity Area

Greenhouse Developments

Business Model

Establish and operate greenhouse facilities for agricultural production which offer controlled environments that enable year-round cultivation of various crops, including vegetables, herbs, flowers, and specialty plants, leveraging the advantages of greenhouses, such as climate control, increased productivity, and efficient resource utilization, to produce high-quality crops and generate sustainable revenue streams.

Business Case

Learn about the investment opportunity’s business metrics and market risks.

Market Size and Environment

CAGR
Describes the historical or expected annual growth of revenues in the IOA market.

5% - 10%

Critical IOA Unit
Describes a complementary market sizing measure exemplifying the opportunities with the IOA.

Albania's total land area under greenhouse cultivation was 1,600 hectares in 2022

From 2013 to 2019, the area of greenhouse developments in Albania have nearly doubled. As of 2022 there were about 1,600 ha of greenhouses in the country (27).

Albania greenhouse production data was reported at 170,980 tonnes in 2022, increasing from 163,158 tonnes in 2021 (28).

The exports of vegetables have increased substantially during recent years, especially from greenhouse vegetables products, which constitute about one-fifth of total agro-food exports (5).

Indicative Return

IRR
Describes an expected annual rate of growth of the IOA investment.

> 25%

Common greenhouses deploying traditional farmers' construction techniques are expected to produce an IRR of 29%, increasing to 34% for inflated greenhouses which encompass double-wall insulation between the greenhouse plastic (29).

Investment Timeframe

Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.

Medium Term (5–10 years)

At a generic level, research shows that it takes more than 5 years for greenhouse investments to break even following initial investment, positioning such investments in the medium-term break-even point.

A European greenhouse turnkey providers has calculated the payback period for greenhouse investments between 6 to 7 years (30).

Ticket Size

Average Ticket Size (USD)
Describes the USD amount for a typical investment required in the IOA.

USD 500,000 - USD 1 million

Market Risks & Scale Obstacles

Capital - CapEx Intensive

High input costs associated with greenhouse technology infrastructure, can lead to an increase in the production costs and the late production of vegetables, with high final prices reducing competitiveness in the internal market (32).

Market - Volatile

Fluctuations in crop prices and demand, both domestically and internationally, can impact the profitability of greenhouse investments.

Business - Supply Chain Constraints

Inadequate infrastructure, including transportation and distribution networks, may hinder the efficient movement of greenhouse produce to markets, potentially affecting the competitiveness and profitability.

Impact Case

Read about impact metrics and social and environmental risks of the investment opportunity.

Sustainable Development Need

Farming structures in Albania are small and fragmented resulting in low productivity. Within the total area of productive agriculture land under arable production, around 60% is cultivated with field crops, out of which only 43% is irrigated (5).

Existing greenhouses in Albania are primarily unheated, mostly simple plastic greenhouses with lover investments in high-tech greenhouse technologies, that are less climate vulnerable. Due to the existing deficiencies in infrastructure, greenhouse production is concentrated in coastal and central Albania portraying favorable natural conditions, which limits the potential impact across the country (5, 33).

Climate change aggravates water insecurity, thus increasing resilience to climate variability through greenhouse investments is crucial for communities whose livelihoods depend on the agricultural sector (27).

Gender & Marginalisation

There is a large income disparity between predominantly urban and rural regions of Albania, with GDP per capita in rural regions 20 percentage points lower than country average (20).

42.3% of women and 35.5% of men in rural regions predominantly depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. The sector portrays the lowest gender pay gap of 5% compared to the sector-wide 10% average (20).

Majority of farms in rural areas are subsistence based, producing for their own consumption and are heavily based on unpaid family labourers or informal workers, signifying the potential impact of formalization of production through greenhouse investments, and enhancing export potential (5).

Expected Development Outcome

Greenhouse investments which provide a controlled environment for growing crops will allow for higher yields and better-quality of produce.

Greenhouse investments will enable cultivation of a wider range of crops, allowing for year-round production, crop diversification, which reduce reliance on single type of crop, enhance food security, boost export potential, and reduced price volatility though year-round steady supply

Greenhouse investments can support more sustainable agriculture practices by using water and soil resources efficiently, reducing need for pesticides and minimizing soil erosion, while reducing risks in agricultural production caused by unfavourable weather conditions.

Gender & Marginalisation

Greenhouse investments will contributor to transfer of knowledge and skills development among local farmers, increasing capabilities in modern agricultural techniques.

Greenhouse deployments will stimulate investments and economic activity in rural areas, where agriculture is a primary source of income, leading to improved infrastructure and living conditions, while increasing availability of locally sourced vegetables to help diversify nutrition and vitamin sources.

Investments in greenhouses will enhance employment in agriculture sector positively impacting women's livelihoods who constitute 42.3% of farmers in rural regions. (20)

Primary SDGs addressed

Zero Hunger (SDG 2)
2 - Zero Hunger

2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment

2.1.2 Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)

Current Value

Prevalence of undernourishment recorded at 4.1% in 2021 (34).

Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity recorded as 30.2% in 2021, 34% for women and 27.5% for men (34).

Target Value

Globally, the long-term objective for this indicator is a value of 2.5 (35).

The government has introduced the “One Health” strategy based on the principle of "Health in every policy" and "sustainable development" aiming to create structures and incentives to coordinate measures and policies in a number of sectors, including ensuring food security (8).

Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8)
8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth

8.3.1 Proportion of informal employment in total employment, by sector and sex

Current Value

Informal employment constituted 56.7% of total employment in 2019 where agriculture represented 63.9% of this informal economy (36).

Target Value

Target to decrease informal employment in non-agricultural sectors to 27% in the framework of 2022-2026 (37).

Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)
12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

12.2.2 Domestic material consumption

12.2.1 Material footprint, material footprint per capita, and material footprint per GDP

Current Value

Domestic material consumption per capita measured at 3.1 tonnes for biomass and biomass products, 0.5 tonnes for fossil energy material/carriers (38).

SO2 emissions embodied in imports (kg/per capita) was 1.38 in 2018 (35).

Target Value

Long-term objective is a decrease in the rate of domestic material consumption per capita (38).

The long-term objective for this indicator is a value of 0 at a global scale (35).

Secondary SDGs addressed

9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
15 - Life on Land
1 - No Poverty

Directly impacted stakeholders

People

Farmers benefit from enhanced high-quality production and exports, overall population will benefit from availability of high-quality, nutritious, and affordable agricultural products and safer food sources.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization

Rural communities, particularly women, can benefit from increased opportunities of employment from enhanced local production through green houses and formalization of the market.

Planet

Environment benefits from more sustainable agriculture practices by using water and soil resources efficiently, reducing need for pesticides and minimizing soil erosion

Corporates

Agriculture export companies can profit from availability of locally sourced, high-quality produce, characterized by year-round stable supply.

Public sector

Government benefits from increased availability of locally produced produce, ensuring food security and export surplus (8).

Indirectly impacted stakeholders

People

Workers in greenhouses and suppliers will experience enhanced productivity, greater earnings, and improved workplace safety through reduced informality.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization

Vulnerable populations will enjoy improved food safety from locally produced high-quality agricultural produce.

Planet

Environmental benefits include reduction in carbon pollution from transportation for import activities.

Corporates

Foreign companies trading in agriculture exports, will benefit from year-round stable supply of agricultural produce.

Outcome Risks

Unless mitigated, greenhouses can produce significant environmental impacts associated with increased energy demand, water usage, and emissions (39).

Greenhouse construction and the associated material can contribute to plastic pollution unless properly recycled, producing environmental externalities (40).

Gender inequality and/or marginalization risk: High input costs can lead to an increase in the final price of vegetables and produce, reducing competitiveness and threatening food safety of local communities (32).

Impact Risks

The gaps in food safety standards in Albania can create problems with capacity, control and enforcement of standards on produce, affecting real and perceived safety risks for consumers (33).

Many farmers lack information, skills and awareness on the use of greenhouse technology and associated safety standards, limiting impact with previous cases of shipments of greenhouse vegetables returned from EU countries (33).

Susceptibility to climate change and extreme weather events can pose a risk to greenhouse operations, affecting crop yields and necessitating additional investments in climate control technology.

Inadequate infrastructure, including transportation and distribution networks, may hinder the efficient movement of greenhouse produce to markets, limiting positive impact.

Impact Classification

C—Contribute to Solutions

What

Increased agricultural productivity, crop diversification, and the production of high-quality, year-round crops, resulting in a robust and sustainable agricultural industry.

Risk

Initial financial risks for investors, potential environmental concerns if not managed sustainably, and risks related to market fluctuation, limiting intended impact.

Contribution

Greenhouse investments can contribute to government's food safety and export ambitions, boosting agricultural competitiveness and promoting technology transfer and skills development.

Impact Thesis

Reform local agriculture, enhance food security, and promote sustainable farming practices, thereby driving economic growth, reducing import dependency, and mitigating environmental pressures.

Enabling Environment

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Policy Environment

National Strategy for Development and European Integration 2022-2030, 2023: includes increasing the areas of greenhouses, and promoting level of mechanization of farms among its strategies outlined for rural development (41).

Rural Development Programme 2021-2027 Under Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), 2022: acknowledges vegetables' greenhouses as an export-oriented success story and promotes greenhouse investments in areas with proper climatic conditions and reduction of minimum thresholds for support (20).

National Pathways for Sustainable Food Systems, 2021: aims to ensure competitive value-chains in the food systems by 2030, including improving agricultural technology and extension services covering irrigation and drainage, while supporting smallholder farmers to increase their agricultural productivity (7).

Albania Calls a Country of Opportunities, 2022: Highlights the importance of the agriculture sector and its potential for development, listing solar green houses for vegetable production among key areas of investment (42).

Financial Environment

Financial incentives: The government's National Scheme 2022, amounting to ALL 3.2 billion (USD 32.2 million) including the guarantee fund and the oil scheme contains at least 13 measures addressing the construction of new solar greenhouses for vegetable production (42).

Fiscal incentives: The government offers zero VAT for agricultural machines both imported and domestically, as well as inputs on chemical fertilizers, pesticides, seeds, seedlings (15).

Other incentives: The Sustainable Rural Development Project, implemented by the GIZ aims to increase competitiveness and incomes in rural areas, including a focus on greenhouse developments alongside vegetables, fruits and dairy (47).

Regulatory Environment

Law No 9863 on Food, 2008 (Amended 2022): aims at ensuring high levels of protection of human health and consumers’ interests with respect to food products; lays down rules governing food hygiene, business operators’ responsibilities, food quality standards, registration of geographical designations of origin, food labelling and marketing standards, and defines the system of food inspection and sets up the National Food Authority (43).

Law No. 9817 on agriculture and rural development, 2017: defines the objectives of agricultural policies and rural development programmes, setting out rules on agricultural public services, research and training, including programming and financing, and support for research and training (44).

Law No. 106/2016 on organic production, labelling, and inspection of organic products, 2016: aims at promoting the sustainable development of organic products and the efficient functioning of the market, while safeguarding fair competition, public trust and protection of consumer interests; encompassing all phases of production and processing (45).

Decision N. 125 on determining the basic criteria of sectors to be supported and the amount of financing from the Program Fund for Agriculture and Rural Development, for the year 2023, March 2023: approves the 2023 budget for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, item "Transfer to family budgets" (economic account 606), to be used for increasing competitiveness, registration, construction of markets, energy efficiency, and training and transfer of knowledge, for agricultural and livestock products (46).

Marketplace Participants

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Private Sector

Danish Green Garden, SuperBerry Albania, Agrocon Albania, Co.Ser, Doni Fruits, Eco Green Shpk, Gjedra shpk, Lefter Vrapi, Mystehak Goga, Asqeri Tafa.

Government

Ministry for Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry for Tourism and Environment, Agency for Rural and Agricultural Development, Ministry of Economy, Culture, and Innovation, Albania Investment Council (AIC), Albania Investment Corporation.

Multilaterals

Delegation of the European Union to Albania, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), European Commission (EC), European Investment Bank (EIB), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), German Development Agency (GIZ), Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Non-Profit

The Albania Agribusiness Support Facility (AASF), The Albanian Agro-business Council, National Organization of Albanian Agriculture, Association of Albanian Horticulture, Organic Agriculture Association (OAA), Albanian Local Capacity Development Foundation, Albanian fertilizer and agri-business dealers association.

Target Locations

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rural

Albania: Fier

Coastal areas of Albania host 65% of the country's cultivated land, and 90% of the country's greenhouses. Berat is among the core areas for vegetable production, where greenhouse production is concentrated. 47.5% of Fier's population is involved in agriculture (27, 33, 49).
rural

Albania: Berat

Hilly regions of central Albania are also key hotspots for vegetable production, namely Berat hosting numerous greenhouses. Along with Fier, Berat is defined as a national cluster of greenhouse vegetables, accounting for 77% of production. 51.8% of Berat's population is involved in agriculture (48, 49).

References

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