UN warns Hormuz fertilizer blockage puts millions at risk of hunger

A UN official has warned that tens of millions of people could be pushed toward hunger and starvation unless fertilisers are allowed to move through the Strait of Hormuz in the coming weeks, underscoring the mounting risk of a global food crisis.

Iran has effectively held the strategic waterway in a chokehold for months, after the war launched by the United States and Israel on 28 February, disrupting a corridor that normally carries a third of the world’s fertilisers. The obstruction has rattled a supply chain farmers across the globe rely on as planting seasons near their end.

“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, said.

“We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation.”

Mr Moreira da Silva said he has spent weeks pressing the warring sides to permit at least a limited number of ships to pass, while also meeting with “more than 100 countries” in an effort to build backing among UN member states for the proposed mechanism.

Support for the plan is growing, he said, but key players remain hesitant. The United States and Iran have yet to fully sign on, and neither have Gulf countries, which are among the world’s major fertiliser producers.

Although the broader goal remains a “lasting peace” agreement in the region and “freedom of navigation for all commodities” through the strait, Mr Moreira da Silva said the agricultural calendar leaves little room for delay, with planting seasons in some African countries set to end within weeks.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

Attention worldwide has largely centred on the economic shock to oil and gas markets, but the United Nations has increasingly warned that the blockade also threatens food security, especially in parts of Africa and Asia expected to bear the brunt.

Mr Moreira da Silva said the United Nations could put the mechanism in place within seven days. But even if the strait reopened immediately, he cautioned, restoring normal conditions would still take three to four months.

“It’s just a matter of time. If we don’t stop the origin of the crisis soon, we will have to deal with the consequences through humanitarian aid.”

Food prices have not yet surged, Mr Moreira da Silva said, but fertiliser costs have already seen a “massive increase”. Experts warn that higher input prices would likely curb agricultural productivity and, in turn, drive food prices sharply higher.

According to Mr Moreira da Silva, allowing an average of just five vessels a day carrying fertilisers and related raw materials through the strait would be enough to avert the crisis facing farmers.

What stands in the way, he said, is “the political will”.

“We can’t procrastinate on what is possible to do, and what is urgent to do — which is let the fertilisers cross the strait and, through that, minimize the risk of massive food insecurity at the global level.”