UN Undersecretary-General Jorge Moreira da Silva today warned of the likelihood of an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis” in the coming months due to the global lack of fertilizers resulting from the conflict in the Persian Gulf.
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08/10/2026
by
Lusa
“ Ocountries that produce fertilizers have decided to close the doors” and “the price has skyrocketed,” which will trigger an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” said UNOPS’ executive director (United Nations Office of Project Services) during the 7th Lisbon conference in Lisbon to discuss the Reconfiguration of the Global Order.
Warning that, contrary to a food crisis, in which the consequences are immediate, the lack of fertilizers will only show effects in a few months, Moreira da Silva defended that the crisis is at hand.
“ And what my colleagues from the FAO [United Nations Organisation for Food and Agriculture] and the World Food Programme say: we will have 45 million people thrown into hunger in the coming months,” he said.
The UN expert, who leads a working group to negotiate the authorization to pass fertilizer ships through the Strait of Ormuz, recalled that one third of these goods originate from the Gulf of Persia.
With the conflict in Iran, which then spread throughout the region, the distribution of fertilizers and other raw materials essential to agriculture, it practically stopped.
“ The countries most dependent on fertilisers coming out of the Persian Gulf are the poorest countries, such as Somalia, Sudan, Mozambique, Tanzania,” but not only are these countries being penalised, he stressed.
The international fertilizer market itself “entered into disruption,” he recalled, advancing that agricultural productivity, particularly in African countries, “has fallen to peak” due to lack of fertilizer.
Faced with the prospect of imminent crisis, the United Nations is “waiting for political will to prevail,” admitted Moreira da Silva.
The UN undersecretary-general said that proposals have already been made and even tested to verify the vessels passing through the strait, so that “at least fertilizer vessels can pass”.
However, he regretted, “at this time, and after seven months of talks and negotiations, that parties to the conflict have not yet accepted this idea”.
The Strait of Ormuz is the channel through which about one third of the world's fertilizer trade and a massive portion of energy raw materials such as oil and natural gas flow.
Last March, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard retained dozens of ships in the Persian Gulf region, making it impossible to transport about a million tons of fertilizers to markets such as Europe, India, China, Indonesia, the USA and Australia.