Iran war Fertilizer Shortage Could Spark The Next Global Food Crisis

The Iran conflict is driving up energy and fertilizer costs, raising alarms over a return of food inflation. Farmers are bracing for resource shortages that could drag down harvests.

According to UNCTAD, the United Nations agency that helps developing nations integrate into the global economy, about 1.33 million tons of fertilizer are exported through Hormuz every month. So a 30-day closure of the strait could be enough to trigger shortages and yield risks for nitrogen-dependent crops like corn, wheat and rice.

https://www.dw.com/en/iran-us-israel-war-food-crisis-prices-fertilizer-energy-costs-inflation/a-76286348

Farmers Face Skyrocketing Fertilizer Prices, Is There a Short- and Long-Term Fix?

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) is urging the Trump administration to take immediate action to stabilize fertilizer supply chains as geopolitical tensions in the Middle East send shockwaves through global input markets just as U.S. farmers begin spring planting. But with farmers already dealing with high fertilizer prices, even before the conflict in Iran, farmers are searching for a longer-term solution...

https://archive.ph/J3DMN#selection-2115.0-2115.9

The Other Global Crisis Stemming From the Strait of Hormuz’s Blockage

This bad news comes at a bad time, just before spring planting season in the Northern Hemisphere. Farmers typically order fertilizer in March to apply in April or May. Now, the president of the South Carolina Farm Bureau is worried “farmers are not going to be able to finance planting their crop” while economists and fertilizer analysts expect “inflation going through the roof” over coming months as crops planted today are supposed to be arriving in supermarkets.

https://carnegieendowment.org/emissary/2026/03/fertilizer-iran-hormuz-food-crisis

As bad as this is for the USA and other wealthy nations, the effect on developing nations could be disastrous.