UN official warns inaction on Hormuz fertilizer flows could push millions into food insecurity

A senior UN official on Thursday warned that continued disruption to fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz could have severe consequences for food security, urging the parties involved to show the political will needed to enable limited transit, Anadolu reports.

Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN under-secretary-general and head of the UN Task Force for the Strait of Hormuz, told the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs in Brussels that the disruption of shipping through the strategic waterway was already affecting global energy and food security.

“It’s important that we focus on the consequences of inaction … are a tragedy for developing countries,” Moreira da Silva said, stressing that some of the countries most dependent on fertilizer supplies from the Gulf are among the world’s most vulnerable economies.

He cited Sudan, Somalia, Mozambique and Tanzania as examples, saying their dependence on fertilizers from the Gulf is between 50% and 60%.

According to Moreira da Silva, the crisis has already triggered a sharp increase in fertilizer prices and a decline in fertilizer use, developments that could reduce agricultural productivity and ultimately worsen food insecurity.

Moreira da Silva said the UN has developed a mechanism aimed at allowing fertilizer shipments to transit the Strait of Hormuz while broader negotiations over freedom of navigation continue.

He emphasized that the proposal is not intended to replace freedom of navigation or serve as an alternative to a comprehensive political settlement.

Rather, it would provide a temporary and exceptional arrangement to prevent a humanitarian crisis, he said.

Under the proposed mechanism, shipping agents would register requests for fertilizer shipments. Following approval, the UN would facilitate deconfliction with the parties to the conflict and other relevant states and provide vessels with a safe route.

He described the proposal as a “confidence-building” mechanism designed to allow a limited number of fertilizer shipments while broader negotiations continue.

Moreira da Silva said the proposal has received broad support among UN member states, but that the UN has yet to obtain the necessary mandate from the two parties to the conflict.

He said he continues to engage weekly with Iran, the US, and Gulf countries in an effort to secure an agreement.

“We need seven days to put the monitors on the ground and to ensure the transit of fertilizers … We are ready, but we are still dependent on the political will of the parties,” Moreira da Silva said.