Vertical Farming
A bed of lettuce under warm LED light inside a container farm
Rows of pink and blue LED grow lights above white NFT hydroponic channels
Large basil plants filling stacked racks in a vertical container farm
Young leafy greens planted in rows of white hydroponic channels inside a tunnel

Vertical farming & hydroponics · South Africa

Farming, re-engineered for the city.

Container farms, rooftop systems, NFT hydroponics tunnels, and community nethouses — controlled environment agriculture designed, built, and handed over with training.

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Since 2016

First in South Africa to farm in a shipping container.

Pioneering Zero-Mile Urban Agriculture in Mzansi

We engineered South Africa’s first locally built commercial shipping-container farm for the YES Hub in Thembisa. Proving the commercial power of hyper-local CEA, we deployed a pilot container unit just 50 metres from a retail SPAR storefront. Leafy greens and fresh basil were harvested and moved directly from the climate-controlled container straight to the retail shelf—eliminating transport runs, fuel overheads, and long-distance cold storage entirely.

That is the power of modern urban farming. Where land is scarce, cities offer rooftops, paved yards, and unused spaces. By growing vertically with high-efficiency hydroponics, produce is harvested right where consumers live, eat, and buy.

Established
2016
Container to SPAR shelf
50 m
Less water with hydroponics
up to 90%
Growing season indoors
365 days

From site visit to first harvest.

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Lettuce growing from white hydroponic blocks fed by black lines

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Container & multi-level farms

Shipping-container farms you can place on a lot, a yard, or stack into a multi-level site — growing all year under LED light.

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Rooftop farms

Turn a roof the city already built into growing space.

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Training & support

Hands-on training for the people who run it, and support after handover.

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Communities & mining partners

We work with communities and with mining companies that want sustainable food production for the people living around their operations.

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Selected work

Four sites. Four ways to grow.

Keep scrolling — the projects slide past.

Projects & photo gallery
Visitors looking at stacked trays of leafy greens and herbs inside the YES Hub container farm

Thembisa, Gauteng

YES Hub container farm

South Africa’s first commercial shipping-container farm by a local company, built for the YES Hub youth programme.

A branded agri-ponics container farm for SPAR standing on grass

50 m from the shelf

SPAR pilot

Leafy greens and basil grown next to the supermarket and supplied fresh — without transport or cold storage for that supply.

Leafy greens growing in white channels inside an NFT hydroponics tunnel

Botswana

Lodge NFT tunnel

A nutrient film technique tunnel so a lodge could serve its guests vegetables grown on the property.

A community farming team in green overalls standing under shade net at Rust de Winter

Rust de Winter

Community nethouses

Two large nethouse and drip-irrigation projects — a more sustainable alternative to open-field farming.

Three ideas behind every farm we build.

How the methods work →

Hydroponics

Roots in water, not soil.

Plants grow in a water-based nutrient solution that delivers minerals straight to the roots. Growth is faster and yields are higher than in a typical field — with 80–90% less water, fewer pesticides, and the freedom to grow in cities or dry regions.

Urban farming

Food grown where people live.

City farming turns rooftops, empty lots, backyards, and indoor rooms into productive ground. It brings fresh produce to neighbourhoods that lack it and cuts the kilometres food travels — at any scale, from one household to a supplier for markets and restaurants.

Vertical farming

Grow up, not out.

Crops in stacked layers inside a building or container, with temperature, humidity, LED light, and CO₂ controlled for year-round harvests. Up to 99% less land and up to 95% less water than conventional farming.

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Interested in becoming an urban farmer?

Talk to us for the best solution. We’ll visit your site, propose the right system, build it, and train your team.

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Already farming or planting vegetables for yourself or your community? Find buyers at the Fresh Produce Market →