Asia and Africa risk food crises if fertiliser shortages persist.
A UN-backed plan could restore fertiliser shipments through Hormuz.
Delays could threaten planting seasons and drive food prices higher.
UN Warns, Failure to Activate Hormuz Fertiliser Plan Could Spark Food Crisis
A UN official warns that failure to activate a fertiliser transport plan through the Strait of Hormuz could trigger food shortages and higher prices across Asia and Africa.
Summary
A senior United Nations official has warned that parts of Asia and Africa could face a food security crisis if the United States and Iran fail to agree on a deal within a week and move ahead with a UN-backed plan for transport of fertilisers through the Strait of Hormuz.
UN Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva told Reuters that, “If we miss that planting season, the productivity of agriculture would significantly drop and the impact on prices will significantly increase.”
An August report by the International Chamber of Commerce warned that a prolonged disruption in the Strait of Hormuz could push commodity prices up by as much as 81% for cereals, 66% for oil crops and 30% for animal products.
The UN Plan
Under the plan, UN monitors would work with local authorities at Gulf ports, with a coordination centre in Oman to verify cargo loading. Ships would be tracked during transit, with additional inspections possible if countries raised concerns about a vessel or its cargo, Moreira da Silva said.
Da Silva said the plan could be activated within 7-10 days of an agreement between Washington and Tehran. He added that allowing just five vessels a day to pass through the Strait of Hormuz could help maintain fertiliser supplies to countries facing critical shortages.
He further said, “ What we are telling them is, while you continue your discussions towards a comprehensive deal, let us work; let us do our job," Reuters reported.
Fall In Fertiliser Exports
The war between the US, Israel and Iran has disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, with Iran targeting vessels and the US and Iran exchanging fire in and around the waterway.
The disruption has affected global supplies of urea, the world’s most widely used nitrogen fertiliser, and sulphur, which is used to make fertilisers. Before the war, around one-third of global urea shipments and nearly half of seaborne sulphur shipments passed through the strait.
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Some ships have continued to pass through the waterway, but fertiliser shipments account for only a “very negligible” share of the cargo being transported, according to the Washington-based International Food Policy Research Institute, Al Jazeera reported.
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