Beyond oil: Iran conflict threatens global food supply and billions of meals

The Iran conflict is not only driving oil prices up; it is also threatening global food supply chains.

The world is witnessing the dramatic surge in oil prices driven by the US-Iran conflict. Now it has come closer to another harsh reality: the shortages of food and fertilizer supplies caused by persistent closure of Strait of Hormuz.

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The CEO, Svein Tore Holsether, of one of the world’s biggest fertilizers, Yara International warns that supply disruptions triggered by the conflict in Iran could result in a weekly loss of up to ten billion meals worldwide.

This looming food security crisis is expected to disproportionately affect the world's most vulnerable nations.

"We're up to half a million tons of nitrogen fertilizer not being produced in the world right now because of the situation we are in," Holsether said.

"What does that mean for food production? I would get up to 10 billion meals that will not be produced every week as a result of the lack of fertilizers."

“But we need to be aware in this part of the world of the potential consequences that if we get to a global auction on food, there will not be a famine in Europe – but we need to be aware of who we are taking the food away from.”

According to Holsether, the first season without nitrogen fertilizer could see crop production drop by as much as 50 percent for specific varieties.

Holsether emphasized that global farmers are currently trapped in a tightening financial vice. While the overhead required to run a farm has skyrocketed, the market value of their produce has failed to keep pace.

He also talked about what we should do to tackle imminent food insecurity. One of the most important things is to raise the alarm on “what are seeing right now” marked by the food crisis.

Talking about the potential of Africa, he said, Africa has an immense potential to become a major food producer, not only for self-sufficiency, but for exports to the rest of the world. But, unfortunately, they are importing food.

Hence, it is a real possibility that Africa would be hit by acute food shortages.

Yara International is a Norwegian multinational with plants in 60 countries and sales in 140.