UN chief launches task force to aid passage of fertiliser through Hormuz Strait
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Tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the Iran war runs through to June, the UN World Food Programme has warned.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- The UN is creating a task force to maintain trade through the Strait of Hormuz, led by Jorge Moreira da Silva.
- This initiative aims to prevent food shortages and humanitarian crises caused by disruptions from the Iran war.
- The task force will learn from the Black Sea Grain Initiative and the UN2720 Mechanism for Gaza.
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UNITED NATIONS, United States - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has launched an interagency task force to help secure the passage of fertilisers through the Strait of Hormuz, his spokesperson announced on March 27.
“As the conflict in the Middle East unfolds and threatens to intensify, disruptions in maritime trade through the Strait of Hormuz risk creating ripple effects impacting humanitarian needs and agricultural production in the coming months,” Mr Stephane Dujarric said.
“Immediate action is essential to mitigate these consequences.”
The “dedicated task force” will work to “develop and propose technical mechanisms,” that will “facilitate fertiliser trade, including the movement of related raw materials” through the strait.
The group includes representatives from several international agencies and will work “in close consultation” with relevant UN member states.
Mr Dujarric noted that the secretary-general had phone calls in recent days with representatives of Iran, the US, Pakistan, Egypt and Bahrain.
“We have a lot of experience on kind of these types of mechanisms in conflict zones,” he said, while referencing an agreement that allowed Ukrainian grain to transit the Black Sea for a little over a year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The establishment of the task force comes as the planting season – which will require fertiliser – is about to begin in many of the world’s major agricultural regions.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), up to 30 per cent of international fertiliser trade passes through the Strait of Hormuz.
On March 26, FAO chief economist Maximo Torero estimated that if the war were to continue for another week or two, markets could “absorb” the shock.
If the conflict lasts more than a month, “the picture changes,” he said.
“The medium-term scenario of a three-month blockade will affect all farmers globally,” he warned, predicting a subsequent drop in wheat, rice, and corn harvests.
Disrupted fertiliser shipments and soaring energy prices are threatening fresh food-price surges in vulnerable countries, risking a years-long setback just as many were emerging from successive global shocks, UN and other experts warn.
An analysis released by the UN World Food Programme last week warned that tens of millions more people will face acute hunger if the Iran war runs through to June. AFP, REUTERS
