Examining Challenges in the Introduction of Sustainable Greenhouses in Morocco:

Abstract

The increasing water scarcity and the greater EU costs of horticultural production are pushing Morocco in innovating its food sector by transitioning to a more sustainable horticultural production. Sustainable high-tech greenhouses, in particular, is a promising technology for the generation of greater yield for export and reduction of resource use. Moroccan horticultural leader companies and some universities have already adopted the technology, which is currently diffused on a niche level.
Nevertheless, the ambitious implementation of Sustainable greenhouses does not come without problems in various aspects of construction and adoption. The technology is facing multiple challenges from the high initial investment required to the lack of a water and energy infrastructure capable to sustain its operations. Most local companies and growers are struggling with the adoption of the technology and are suffering the consequences of increasing water prices and taxation. Similarly, the lack of an alignment among the different market players and the lack of a governmental long-term vision is limiting the instance of goal- oriented subsidies. This shows that there are a complex series of factors that might hamper a technology's large-scale diffusion. Consequently, this research aims with the use of the Building Blocks framework by Ortt & Kamp (2022), to explore the barriers to different market applications of Sustainable Greenhouses and formulate niche introduction strategies to overcome the obstacles and reach large-scale diffusion in the Moroccan market. The use of the framework is taken into consideration the socio-technical system from a company perspective. The result of the study is a list of seven building blocks, which must be analysed to develop an ‘ad-hoc’ niche introduction strategy. However, if any of the building blocks are incomplete or incompatible, a barrier to large-scale diffusion is formed, hampering the diffusion of technological innovation. Yet sometimes the state of the barrier does not provide enough pieces of information for the development of a niche strategy. Thus, the investigation of the other seven influencing conditions is required to individuate the cause of the barrier, by providing important information to formulate a specific niche introduction strategy.
Previous research conducted with this study is often solely used to analyse the technological concept without fully considering that the same technologies might encounter different market applications. Nonetheless, when analysing sustainable greenhouse, multiple market applications must be considered. For the specific case of this study, three different market applications of sustainable greenhouses were revealed: sustainable greenhouses for tomato production, sustainable greenhouses for soft-fruits production and sustainable greenhouses for herbs production. Because the differences within internal components and running operations might lead to different obstacles to large-scale diffusion, the analysis requires the adaptation of the framework to develop a singular Building Blocks analysis for each market application.
In addition, this research focuses on examining the process of international technology transfer from the Netherlands to Morocco. The motivation behind this transfer is the increasing impossibility of European countries in growing food during winter due to the war in Ukraine. Previously, profit margins were limited, and now with higher energy prices, they are almost non-existent. Consequently, there is a strong push from the Netherlands to transition local production to Morocco by implementing Sustainable greenhouses. This study employs stakeholder analysis and a two-sided perspective to shed light on the varying opinions of researchers, growers, technology providers, and governmental actors from both countries. What is more, it uses, for the first time, the TIS framework in the case of international technology transfer to assess the barriers and influencing factors affecting the large-scale diffusion of three different types of sustainable greenhouses.
The research continued, with the development of tailored Niche introduction strategies per each market application. These strategies aim to overcome the barriers and prepare sustainable greenhouse companies to diffuse on the Moroccan national level. To illustrate, there have been identified multiple barriers to large-scale diffusion such as the high initial investment costs, the lack of a skilled workforce, the potential customers sceptically and the lack of a final product market. To overcome these obstacles, this study proposed to Moroccan companies some niche introduction strategies. For instance, the development of a network of knowledge share and knowledge development through showing or the establishment of a shared long-term vision from the government.
The paper progresses by reflecting on the analytical capacity of the adapted Building Block framework and gives some suggestions for improvements. It firstly reflects on the use of the adapted framework for the evaluation of the different barriers per market application. Then it discusses the implementation of a yardstick of judgement to develop an objective guideline for the future framework users so that the building block/influencing conditions status evaluation would be more impartial. To conclude it highlights the possibility of another useful adaptation could be the implementation of another building block, specific for sustainability as the lack of it could be an obstacle to diffusion and a key element to be considered toward the ecological transition.
The paper concludes by discussing the findings for each research question, and how the evidence, from the study, shows that there is an international push toward the adoption of more advanced horticultural technologies in Morocco. Similarly, from the gathered data, it is perceived that prevalently foreign countries would be benefiting from Morocco’s technological shift. The technology adoption is facing an increased push after the war in Ukraine and the subsequent shrinkage in the profit margin for local food production. These findings raise the question of whether the introduction of Sustainable greenhouse technology is sustainable as it appears to be or whether this technological implementation might just be another example of green colonialism. Finally, the study addresses its limitations and gives some recommendations for further research.