UN organization warns Persian Gulf crisis impacts worldwide food security News
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UN organization warns Persian Gulf crisis impacts worldwide food security

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) issued a warning Thursday that the Persian Gulf crisis is affecting agricultural production and food security worldwide, leaving significant impacts on farmers, migrant workers, and consumers.

Máximo Torero, the Chief Economist for the FAO, stated:

[The intensifying conflict] has triggered one of the most rapid and severe disruptions to global commodity flows in recent times. Temporality matters a lot right now and the clock is ticking very hard, and I think we need to find a solution as soon as possible … We need to treat food systems with the same strategic importance as energy and transport sectors, investing accordingly to minimize those shocks.

The FAO emphasized the short-term need to find alternative routes and “provide emergency balance of payment support to import-dependent nations before planting windows.” In the longer term, the FAO said that the international community needs to diversify global import sources and strengthen regional reserve sharing.

The food security concerns arise from the more than 90 percent decline in tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz since the Persian Gulf conflict intensified. Normally, 35 percent of global crude oil flows pass through the corridor. Additionally, Gulf countries such as Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Oman, and Qatar are critical exporters of urea and other nitrogen-based fertilizers.

Michael Werz, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, stated, “With shipping activity through the Strait of Hormuz affected, the effect on global fertilizer exports is enormous and will generate cascading effects.” These effects are manifesting in rising fuel and fertilizer prices. The FAO said farmers are facing “a double shock,” as both are key to agricultural production.

The countries that face the most severe impacts are those that import over 90 percent of their fertilizer, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa. Less than a quarter of these farmers have access to formal credit, so they have no ability to stockpile in advance of disruptions. Other countries that need urgent protection are Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, as they are in the middle of their rice harvests. Some Gulf countries such as Qatar and the United Arab Emirates are also facing challenges as they are “huge importers of food.” According to Public Affairs Professor Raj Patel, “Even if the strait opened up and the war ended tomorrow, it would take weeks to reboot the supply chain.”

Gulf countries also host millions of migrant workers from South Asia and East Africa. If the conflict persists, remittances they send home may decline.

The strait has been virtually at a standstill since the US and Israel launched air strikes, which killed Iran’s supreme leader. Following the attack, Ebrahim Jabari, a senior adviser to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, issued a warning: “The strait is closed. If anyone tries to pass, the heroes of the Revolutionary Guard and the regular navy will set those ships ablaze.”

The Iranian Parliament is working on a draft bill to impose fees for vessels seeking safe passage. Freedom of navigation through these vital passageways should be guaranteed, according to international law.

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