Middle East & Africa Horticulture Lighting Market Outlook, 2029

The history of horticulture lighting in the MEA region dates back to the very inauguration stage of cultivation, way back in the early 2000s if agricultural technology was under development. Huge geographical spreads, differing infrastructure capabilities, and diversity in agricultural behavior posed the first challenges at that time. Companies bringing in this new industry during early days faced the challenge of how to provide effective lighting, promoting the growth of crops in a manner responsive to the local environment and regulatory frameworks. The horticulture sector was booming, and governments across the MEA region recognised the need for solid lighting solutions.

Policies such as the 2018 "Green Lighting" program by the UAE fostered reductions in energy consumption through efficient lighting technologies in agriculture and served as a model to neighboring nations. Notwithstanding the gained momentum, the region posed particular challenges. As most of the GCC were found to have very arid climatic conditions, the indoor cultivation of plants required much-needed lighting that could substantially strive against high temperatures with perfect conditions for plant growth. Heat-resistant LED fixtures and climate-controlled lighting devices became the greatest quality need for greenhouse applications and vertical farming.

Practices at a cultural level also played a major role in shaping how the MEA horticulture lighting market developed. The need for localized approaches covering preferences for crop types or ways of farming meant that the lighting solutions fitted cultural practices and consumer expectations. Governments have also done their part through initiatives such as Egypt's "Sustainable Agriculture Initiative," launched in 2016, that were aimed at incentivizing the adoption of sustainable lighting technologies and practices so as to enhance agricultural productivity while keeping a low level of environmental impact. Long-term trends in the MEA horticulture lighting market are not yet over. Smart lighting, powered by technologies like IoT-enabled sensors and remote monitoring systems, has found favor with growers who intend to have control over light parameters and resources

According to the report, the Middle-East& Africa Horticultural lighting market is anticipated to grow at more than 2% CAGR from 2024 to 2029. The rapidly changing consumer preferences toward sustainability, driven by growing environmental concerns and regulatory pressures, mean that companies involved in horticulture lighting are firmly engaged in searching for eco-friendly means of operation. This would include energy-efficient light sources, such as LEDs and recyclable materials for their lighting devices with minimal environmental footprints, therefore pampering environmentally conscious growers. This has induced innovation in both lighting technologies and linkages between the technology developers and stakeholders within agriculture.

Developing logistics and supply chain infrastructure in MEA act as a funnel toward changes in the horticulture lighting market. Enhanced logistics, spending on advanced technologies such as smart sensors, and real-time crop monitoring have changed the way crops are managed, shifting it towards improved productivity and commoditization of ideal growing conditions. This poses the need for horticulture lighting providers to partake in developing typical lighting options that can bear different environmental conditions and type-of-crop needs.

The cross-border agricultural trade and greenhouse farming and vertical agriculture are on the rise, further increasing the growth of the market. These trends are coupled with high-intensity lighting solutions that can perform consistently through most diverse agricultural landscapes. Following this trend, LED grow lights, designed to optimize plant growth in controlled environments, will be likewise favored by indoor farmers who grow crops in arid regions like the UAE or North Africa, whose climatic conditions challenge traditional methods of farming.

Market Drivers

• Enhancing Food Security: The need to enhance food security and reduce dependency on imports drives the adoption of advanced horticulture lighting in the Middle East and Africa. Controlled environment agriculture, supported by advanced lighting systems, is crucial for addressing the region’s challenging climatic conditions and limited arable land. By optimizing growth conditions and enabling year-round production, these technologies help improve local food production and reduce the reliance on imported food.
• Government Investments: Government initiatives and investments in modern agricultural technologies support market growth in the Middle East and Africa. Policies aimed at improving agricultural productivity and sustainability, along with financial incentives and subsidies, encourage the adoption of advanced horticulture lighting systems. Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are leading efforts to develop high-tech farming solutions, including vertical farming and controlled environment agriculture. These investments aim to enhance food security, reduce water usage, and promote sustainable agricultural practices.

Market Challenges

• High Implementation Costs:The high cost of implementing advanced horticulture lighting systems is a significant challenge in the Middle East and Africa. Limited access to financing and economic constraints further hinder adoption. The expense of purchasing and installing LED lighting fixtures, along with the necessary infrastructure for controlled environment agriculture, presents a financial barrier for many farmers.
• Knowledge Gap:There is a significant knowledge gap in the effective use of advanced horticulture lighting systems in the Middle East and Africa. Many farmers not fully understand the benefits and potential of these technologies, leading to underutilization or incorrect application. Training and education programs are essential to build the necessary knowledge and skills among farmers and agricultural workers.

Market Trends

• Customized Solutions for Extreme Climates: Developing customized lighting solutions that cater to the region’s extreme climatic conditions is a growing trend in the Middle East and Africa. Innovations in LED technology and climate-specific systems are gaining popularity, addressing the unique challenges posed by high temperatures and limited water resources. These customized solutions optimize light spectra and intensity to support plant growth in harsh environments, enhancing productivity and sustainability.
• Urban and Vertical Farming:Urban and vertical farming projects are being developed in cities like Dubai and Riyadh to enhance local food production. These initiatives are supported by advanced lighting systems that optimize growth conditions and improve yields. Urban farming addresses the challenges of limited arable land and water resources, providing fresh, locally grown produce to urban populations.

In the Middle East & Africa region, adoption of LED horticulture lighting is leading due to its unique environmental challenges that pose an urgent need for sustainable agricultural solutions.

The climatic conditions in the MEA region are extreme, characterized by very high temperatures and limited water availability, hence making open-field conventional farming very difficult and quite often unsustainable. The plants under LED lighting systems enable CEA - controlled environment agriculture - to be developed, which includes greenhouses and indoor farms, allowing for the most precise control over all environmental conditions to maximize plant growth. For the MEA, the energy efficiency of LEDs is important because energy costs are usually very high. Sometimes, the electricity supply is still unstable.

In this regard, compared to the possible consumption of energy by conventional lighting technologies, operational costs are considerably low when using LEDs and also provide more reliable and sustainable agricultural practices. It is very important in countries where diversification is mainly aimed at developing resilient agricultural sectors with a view to reducing dependence on oil. Such flexibility in the light spectra of LEDs enables the possibility of tailoring light spectra to very large fractions of crops and growth phases, conducive for optimizing production in controlled environments. The essence with high-value crops such as vegetables, fruits, and herbs being grown in greenhouses and indoor farms in the MEA region.

The fresh food will be locally available throughout the year, enhancing food security without reliance on imported produce. Government initiatives and investments in agricultural technology spur further adoption of LED lighting in the MEA. Countries like the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia take on issues with food security by investing in advanced agricultural solutions. This will feature developing large greenhouse complexes and vertical farms that are dependent on LED lighting to provide perfect growing conditions.

Toplighting systems is leding as it provides the required intensity and light quality to support plant growth in a controlled environment and ensure high productivity with quality produce.

Countries like the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa in the MEA region are putting a lot into agricultural technology to enhance food security and reduce their reliance on imported food. Toplighting plays a significant role in powering the production of fresh vegetables, fruits, and herbs produced locally in greenhouses as part of this vision. Higher light intensities with full coverage of the toplighting system provide maximum yields of the crops, besides efficiently using space and resources. The reason for this wide adoption in MEA could be that the recent systems of toplighting is efficient in energy use.

Confronted with high energy costs and purposefully orienting themselves towards sustainability, LED lighting solutions, once applied at the top of the plants, have dominated the trend of growers in this region. Doing so enabled a cut in electricity consumption and, subsequently, operating expenses. These systems provide an important advantage in terms of control over the light spectrum that reaches the plant, which offers the possibility of specific tuning for different crops and growth stages in order to further raise productivity and quality. Government initiatives and investments in agricultural innovations are escalating the adoption of toplighting in the MEA.

Some of these initiatives involve funding research and development, financial assistance in the form of subsidies for advanced technologies pertaining to agriculture, and the establishment of centres of excellence in agricultural technologies. This would present a conducive atmosphere for the adoption of toplighting systems with help and support received from both the governments and the private sector in handling food security challenges and making agriculture sustainable in the region.

Fruits and vegetables are leading because of the unfavorable Middle Eastern & African environmental conditions, rising demand for fresh produce, and adoption of advanced agricultural technologies.

Penetrating into the Middle East & Africa, fruits and vegetables are perceived to retain a dominant position in the horticulture lighting market, driven by regional agricultural profiles and the need for food security in view of adverse environmental conditions. The MEA countries, like United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa, are increasingly turning to the use of horticulture lighting, especially LED technology, in order to repulse adversities or challenges advanced by adverse temperatures, lack of water, and non-availability of arable soils.

LED horticulture lighting is critical in underpinning controlled environment agriculture practices - amongst which greenhouse farming has emerged as one of the most important methods - to maximize crop yields and have a reliable supply of high-quality fruits and vegetables. Indeed, state-of-the-art LED lighting solutions offer the capability to create the optimal growing conditions within an indoor environment for countries like the UAE and Saudi Arabia with desert conditions by protecting against extreme heat and maximizing water efficiency.

This ability does not only sustain the production of different varieties of fruits and vegetables but also fosters their qualitative production and thus enhances shelf life to suit urban-centre-based consumers with refined tastes. A critical aspect that makes South Africa outstanding in mixed agriculture production and export-oriented farming is the use of LED Horticulture lighting to prolong growth seasons and diversify crops. Opportunity exists to implement control with a high order of accuracy over the light spectrum; on this component, farmers utilize such characteristics as the way of giving out the exact spectrum of light this crop required, citrus fruits, berries, and vegetables.

Such customization enables healthier plant growth, increased yields, and a general strengthening of crops against climatic fluctuations and pests, pressure crucial to any competitiveness within the global markets. The adoption of LED horticulture lighting in MEA countries aligns with both broader and often complementary agendas of greater sustainability and the adoption of strategies to reduce food imports. By enhancing resource efficiency and minimizing environmental impact, LEDs enable sustainable, water-conserving agriculture with low energy consumption and minimized GHG emissions. Initiatives and investments by governments in agricultural innovation also support advanced lighting technologies, providing for resilience and growth in the region's horticulture sector.

The dominance of greenhouses in the horticultural lighting market across the MEA region is due to urgent need for water-efficient and climate-controlled agricultural solutions to overcome harsh environmental conditions, coupled with the rising food demand due to population growth.

The imperative for water-efficient and climate-controlled solutions in agriculture could not have been more necessary, as the harsh prevailing environmental conditions currently make the need even more pronounced. The development closely corresponds to the rise in demand for food coming from the population increase. This factor will drive the horticultural lighting market across the MEA region to a higher level of domination of greenhouse farming for agricultural purposes. Greenhouses are leading the horticultural lighting market in the MEA region, primarily due to the urgent need for water-efficient, climate-controlled agricultural solutions to address harsh environmental conditions and meet growing food demand.

The horticultural world has really changed with the introduction of greenhouses, especially in countries like Israel, UAE, and South Africa that have minimal arable land and water resources. Horticultural lighting is common in greenhouses with leading technology and is used as an extra light source for increasing the photosynthetic ability of crops to grow fully, hence improving crop quality and yield, a condition that in turn has guaranteed food security and less dependence on importation of such crops.

The UAE is leading the way in the horticulture lighting market due to its advanced technology infrastructure, the focus on vertical farming, and strategic investment in sustainable agricultural practices.

State-of-the-art technology is one of the major drivers that keep the UAE a step ahead with regard to horticulture lighting. The nation aggressively pursued R&D in agricultural technologies, including LED lighting systems specifically for indoor and vertical farming environments. A combination of high-tech infrastructure, pioneering efforts in vertical farming, and targeted investments in sustainable agriculture has contributed to making the UAE one of the leaders in the horticulture lighting market. The country can become an important agricultural producer despite its desert climate and shortage of farmland area by sensing opportunities that exist in surmounting these challenges using such innovative solutions as horticulture lighting.

UAE farmers using such technologies manage light spectra, intensities, and photoperiods to achieve better growth, quality, and yield from crops under controlled conditions wherein the available natural light is deficient or unpredictable. The UAE has embraced vertical faming as a more environmentally-friendly way of maximizing food production within urban areas and space-constrained regions. Vertical farms support extensive cultivation by vertically stacking the cultivation layers, increasing crop production per square meter, reducing water consumption, and minimizing the environmental impacts attributed to conventional agricultural practices.

UAE's strategic investments have surged the country's lead in horticulture lighting because of its adoption toward sustainable agricultural practices in line. Both the government and private sector have been working on encouraging more sustainable farming practices through increased use of either energy-efficient LED lighting or renewable sources of energy in powering indoor farming operations. Now many more will follow in his initiative for food security, minimizing reliance on imported produce, and putting the UAE at the forefront in technology innovation for sustainable agriculture and horticulture globally.

Years considered in this report:

• Historic year: 2018
• Base year: 2023
• Estimated year: 2024
• Forecast year: 2029

Aspects covered in the report:

• Horticulture Lighting market outlook with its value and forecast, along with its segments
• Various drivers and challenges
• On-going trends and developments
• Top profiled companies
• Strategic recommendation

By Technology:

• Light-emitting Diode (LED)
• High-intensity Discharge (HID)
• Fluorescent
• Others

By Lighting Type:

• Toplighting
• Interlighting

By Application:

• Fruits & Vegetables
• Floriculture
• Cannabis

By End-use Industry:

• Greenhouses
• Vertical Farming
• Indoor Farms

The approach of the report:

This report consists of a combined approach of primary and secondary research. Initially, secondary research was used to get an understanding of the market and list the companies that are present in it. The secondary research consists of third-party sources such as press releases, annual reports of companies, and government-generated reports and databases. After gathering the data from secondary sources, primary research was conducted by conducting telephone interviews with the leading players about how the market is functioning and then conducting trade calls with dealers and distributors of the market. After this, the research team made primary calls to consumers by equally segmenting them in regional aspects, tier aspects, age group, and gender. Once the research team attained the primary data, they verified the details obtained from secondary sources.

Intended Audience

This report can be useful to industry consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, associations, and organizations related to the Horticulture Lighting industry, government bodies, and other stakeholders to align their market-centric strategies. In addition to marketing and presentations, it will also increase competitive knowledge about the industry.