In South East Asia, the average worker in a farm or plantation has an average salary per month of no more than USD500 per month. The low-tech nature of the region’s agriculture creates poverty trap for these workers. The region’s population is 661.5 million, increasing to 720 million by 2030 thus there is urgent requirement to increase production capacity of food without incurring additional agricultural land stress. Upcycling is the solution for improved food security and equitable wealth creation, without needing further deforestation. This is because Southeast Asia is a bio-cultural hotspot encompassing about 20 per cent of global plant, animal and marine species. These species can be the nature-positive agents of upcycling because of millennia of evolution.