UN Official Warns of Looming Food Crisis as Hormuz Fertilizer Plan Stalls
A senior United Nations official has warned that parts of Asia and Africa could face a food security crisis unless Iran and the United States quickly agree on a UN-backed plan to move fertilizer through the embattled Strait of Hormuz.
UN Under-Secretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva stated on Wednesday that it is "absolutely critical" both countries reach an agreement within weeks, as the planting season approaches. The proposal calls for a UN-staffed coordination center in Oman to facilitate vessel registration and safe passage through the waterway, a vital route for global fertilizer inputs.
"If we miss that planting season, the productivity of agriculture would significantly drop and the impact on prices will significantly increase," Moreira da Silva told Reuters on the sidelines of International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings in Bangkok, Thailand.
Farmers adhere to strict crop calendars, and even minor delays can drastically affect yields.
Traffic in the Strait of Hormuz has been significantly disrupted since the commencement of the US-Israel war on Iran, with Iran targeting vessels and the US and Iran exchanging fire in and around the waterway. This disruption has affected global supplies of urea, the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer, as well as seaborne sulfur, a crucial input. While some ships have managed to traverse the strait, fertilizer products have constituted a "very negligible" share of moving cargo, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute based in Washington.
Moreira da Silva asserted that the UN-backed fertilizer mechanism, developed in March, could be activated within seven to 10 days if both Iran and the US concur. This mechanism involves UN monitors working alongside local authorities at Gulf ports to verify cargo loading. Ships would be tracked during transit, and additional inspections could be conducted if countries raise concerns about a vessel or its cargo. He did not elaborate on why the US and Iran have not yet reached an agreement.
The passage of merely five vessels per day through the Strait of Hormuz could suffice to maintain fertilizer supplies to countries in crisis.