Middle East and Africa Vertical Farming Market

Middle East and Africa Vertical Farming Market Size

The vertical farming market size in the Middle East and Africa was valued at USD 1 billion in 2023. The MEA market is anticipated to reach1.15 billion in 2024 from USD 8.24 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 26.4% from 2024 to 2032.

Vertical farming is a technique to grow plants in optimal conditions with soilless farming techniques. This farming technique requires very little land and results in high crop yield, which is gaining much attention today. The world needs food with the rapidly increasing population. The demand to increase food production utilizing modern techniques is the major goal for the higher authorities in every country. Vertical farming does not depend on external environmental conditions as the process is done indoors. The plants are organized vertically and supervised with the specific requirements needed by the plants. The plant growth can be optimized in a controlled environment where the external conditions do not damage the crop production rate. 

MARKET DRIVERS

The scarcity of water and less arable land are enhancing the growth of the vertical farming market in the Middle East and Africa. The development of vertical farms is prominently suitable for this region due to high water scarcity. Better land needs to be fully utilized by the people as there is not enough space for growing crops. The rainfall is also low, and a high range of rains is observed during the harvesting season, which impacts the farmer's cultivation of crops. All these reasons influence the region's people and increase the adoption rate of vertical farming. The government initiatives for better farming practices are accelerating vertical farming in the region. Various government initiatives are increasing the market penetration of vertical farms to attain food security measures. The increasing cereals and oil seed export activities and rising population food requirements are boosting the Middle East and Africa vertical farming market value. 

Rapidly growing urban populations in urban areas and decreasing agricultural land are two major factors that will influence the market's growth. Another major factor prompting the growth rate of the market is the rising need to adopt eco-friendly technological developments in farming techniques. Vertical farming reduces the usage of chemicals or pesticides and promotes products that can be recycled. These factors lower the carbon footprints that are ascribed to boost the Middle East and Africa's vertical farming market’s growth. In today’s world, reducing carbon footprints is becoming the major trend, and it can be totally sustained through the adoption of vertical farming. The rising scarcity of water problems is also ascribed to the boost in the growth rate of the Middle East and African vertical farming markets. Water required for the vertical farming process is much less without compromising on producing a high crop yield every year.  In addition, changing consumers’ preference to eat only organic food products rather than plants cultivated with chemicals and pesticides is greatly influencing the growth rate of the Middle East and African vertical farming market. 

MARKET RESTRAINTS

The initial set-up for vertical farming is expensive due to the essential requirements hampering the market growth. As vertical farming does not include insect pollination, the pollination must be done manually, which is time-consuming and requires labor charges. The energy costs are also high in vertical farming due to complete dependency on the power supply. The need for more skilled personnel is a major challenge for the growth of vertical farming in the Middle East and African region. The requirement for skilled labor is more for the vertical farming procedure, limiting the market growth. In addition, the high cost of setting up the proper infrastructure with the best equipment needed to organize plants under a specific atmosphere is slowly degrading the growth rate of the market. Small-scale businesses could not afford the high technological development in agriculture due to its cost factor, which is also a factor impeding market value. Lack of skilled farmers in gaining complete knowledge of vertical farming due to fewer campaigns by government organizations. 

MARKET OPPORTUNITIES

The rapid adoption of the latest technologies in developed countries in the Middle East and Africa is solely to create huge growth opportunities for the market. For instance, Mowreq Specialized Agriculture and YesHealth Group joined together in Saudi Arabia to launch an automated vertical farm with iFarm Leafy Greens technology. The expected production capacity in this area is around 16 tons per month. Investors are actively supporting vertical farming in the Middle East and African countries to sustain the rising demand for food production with technological developments. 

An increasing number of government initiatives to decrease dependency on imports for food requirements are propelling the adoption of vertical farming. Due to Scarcity and low agricultural practices, the Middle East and African regions mainly depend on imported food for their requirement. Vertical farming does not require spacious land and low water content, so it is being highly adopted by the people. The government is taking various initiatives to decrease imports and increase vertical farming practices to avoid dependency. The collaborations of public and private sectors for vertical farming for production and delivery are boosting the adoption of vertical farming. Increasing investments by the market players in vertical farming to develop the country's economy is accelerating regional market growth. With the government approval to produce cannabis as a legal procedure, many areas are focusing on the cultivation of cannabis. The demand for cannabis is very high across the world. The vertically farmed cannabis has observed significant flowering, which is meeting the requirement to create opportunities for market expansion. 

MARKET CHALLENGES

Though there are many advantages to vertical farming techniques, there are a few challenges for the key players in the Middle East and Africa vertical farming market. Vertical farming techniques consume high energy. The environment set to provide an optimized environment for the potential growth of the plants requires LED lights and other devices, which consume high energy. The continuous need to provide light and other conditions required for the plants, irrespective of the exterior climatic conditions, is the main reason for the high consumption of electricity, which is likely to impede the growth rate of the market. 

REPORT COVERAGE

SEGMENTAL ANALYSIS

By Growth Mechanism Insights

The Hydroponics segment is leading with the dominant share of the market. Hydroponics technique uses water-based nutrient solutions to grow plants. The plants receive essential nutrients through this solution, and the growth of the plants will be optimistic. This technique of growing plants can give a lot of space to grow a large number of plants as the plants are accommodated vertically. The need to use no soil is one of the greatest advantages of following this growth mechanism in vertical farming techniques. The Aquaponics segment has the highest growth rate during the forecast period. 

By Structure Insights

The buildings segment is leading with the largest share of the market, and shipping containers are set to have huge growth opportunities in the coming years. Vertical farming does not require agricultural land to cultivate the plants. The buildings can be transformed for vertical farming by installing the equipment needed to organize and cultivate the plants. The build for vertical farming is slightly different from the greenhouse with regard to height. Buildings are usually lightweight and promote high energy-efficiency methods with few or multi-story. Shipping containers are ideal for producing a high crop yield in urban areas.  

By Crop Type Insights

The lettuce segment is leading with the largest market share. The demand for lettuce crop production has been rising for many years. Growing awareness of the health benefits of lettuce is majorly escalating the growth rate of the market. The demand to increase the crop production of lettuce is increasing year on year with the rising prominence for the use of lettuce in making medicine that has the ability to cure various diseases.  

By Offering Insights

The hardware segment is holding the dominant share, and the software segment is likely to have prominent growth opportunities in the coming years. To improve vertical farming practices, highly advanced technologies like sensors, drones, robotics, and others must be installed to continuously monitor the farm remotely. The software allows the farmers to make immediate decisions, if necessary, from anywhere without attending to the farm area. Advanced technology is playing a crucial role in enhancing the optimistic results through vertical farming to an extent. 

REGIONAL ANALYSIS

UAE is projected to lead the dominant share of the vertical farming market. The presence of the top companies in the countries is established to leverage the growth rate of the market. The gigaFarm project was initiated by ReFarm in 2022 and is gaining a lot of attention across the world. The largest firm in vertical farming thinks differently and operates in a way that helps it succeed in the marketplace. For instance, in 2022, the world’s largest vertical farm was unveiled in Dubai at AI Maktoum International Airport. A 3000-square-meter indoor facility was built to produce more than one million kilograms of leafy vegetables each year. The rapid adoption of advanced technology and implementation in the agriculture sector at high speed to reduce the eventually growing concern of greenhouse gases. 

KEY MARKET PLAYERS

Theare Illumitex Inc., Aerofarms, Koninklijke Philips N.V. and Sky Greens are some of the major companies in the Middle East and Africa vertical farming market.

MARKET SEGMENTATION

This research report on the Middle East and Africa vertical farming market has been segmented and sub-segmented into the following categories.

By Growth Mechanism

• Hydroponics
• Aeroponics
• Aquaponics

By Structure

• Buildings
• Shipping Containers

By Crop Type

• Lettuce
• Pepper
• Broccoli
• Cucumber
• Spinach
• Tomato
• Strawberry
• Pomegranate
• Others

By Offering

• Hardware
• Software
• Service

By Country

• KSA
• UAE
• Israel
• Rest Of GCC Countries
• South Africa
• Ethiopia
• Kenya
• Egypt
• Sudan
• Rest Of MEA