- CEA has significant potential to strengthen food security in Southeast Asia as climate change and resource constraints disrupt traditional open-field farming.
- The effectiveness of CEA is undermined by fragmented markets, weak supply chains, and limited collaboration across the sector.
- Cluster-based development models that bring together production, logistics, research, and training within concentrated regions can create stronger ecosystems and foster innovation.
As climate change disrupts open-field production and resource constraints intensify, greenhouse and controlled environment agriculture (CEA) systems could be crucial to strengthening food security in the region, said Dutch Greenhouse Delta CEO Mirjam Boekestejin.
“Asia is rapidly transforming with climate change, urbanisation, huge population growth, also the pressure on resources, so production needs to be more efficient and having less impact on the environment,” she told AgNavigator at this year’s edition of Agritechnica Asia in Bangkok, Thailand.
“Controlled environment agriculture can really contribute to food safety and food security, especially as climate change is impacting open-field growing. I really believe in that it can have a key role in the issues for food safety and food security.”
Despite potential, Boekestejin highlighted structural inefficiencies that continue to undermine the region’s CEA sector.
Supply chain weaknesses were particularly critical, she said, with post-harvest handling often overlooked.
“If you grow high-quality tomatoes but transport them for ten hours without cooling, the quality is lost. You need the whole supply chain to work.”
This underscored the need for integrated development across the entire value chain, rather than isolated investments in production technology.
Success in clusters
Boekestejin advocated for cluster-based development models that bring together production, logistics, research and training within concentrated regions.
Examples such as Vietnam’s Lam Dong province and Malaysia’s Cameron Highlands are emerging as early-stage horticultural hubs, benefiting from favourable climates and existing production bases.
“If everything is scattered and individual, it’s difficult. But if you bring it together – production, knowledge, and logistics – you can create a strong ecosystem,” she said.
Such clusters can improve efficiency, enable knowledge transfer and create the conditions needed for sustained innovation.
“You can have the best technology, but if you don’t have the knowledge and skills to use it, it won’t succeed,” Boekestejin said.
Not just about tech
Dutch Greenhouse Delta is a privately funded, non-profit foundation that aims to build cooperative ecosystems between the Netherlands and partner countries.
Boekestejin stressed that the company does not just focus on transferring technology but works to ensure it is fit-for-purpose in local context.
“As a frontrunner in controlled environment agriculture, we bring expertise, but it needs to be adapted to the local context. It’s not about low-, mid- or high-tech – it’s about the right tech, choosing solutions that fit the business case, the location and the grower, and ultimately creating a sustainable and profitable outcome,” said Boekestejin.
She highlighted the Netherlands’ success in greenhouse agriculture, attributing it to the ‘Dutch diamond’, which links business, government, research institutions and civil society.
“In the Netherlands, innovation comes from continuous collaboration between business, knowledge institutions, government and society,” Boekestejin said.
Bringing this model in South East Asia, however, remains a challenge. Trust gaps between stakeholders continue to hinder collaboration.
“That is difficult to replicate; growers don’t always trust each other, and sometimes they don’t trust the government either.”
Building this trust, alongside improving transparency and data sharing, is seen as a critical step toward enabling ecosystem-level transformation.
Despite these challenges, successful examples are beginning to emerge across the region, where elements of the ecosystem are coming together.
Such cases demonstrate that while greenhouse technology can play an important role in strengthening food systems, lasting impact will depend on aligning infrastructure, knowledge, markets and collaboration.
Boekestejin concluded: “We are already seeing successful examples. For example, a flower farm exporting chrysanthemums to Japan and Australia, with the right elements in place.”
