Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not soon allowed through the Strait of Hormuz, a UN task force has warned.
“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, executive director of the United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, said on Monday in an interview in Paris.
“We may witness a crisis that will force 45 million more people into hunger and starvation.”
Iran has had the strategic waterway — through which a third of the world’s fertilisers normally pass — in a chokehold for months in retaliation for the war launched by the United States and Israel on February 28, disrupting a trade critical for farmers around the world in a race against the end of planting seasons.
The UN secretary general created the task force in March to spearhead a mechanism to allow fertilisers and related raw materials such as ammonia, sulphur, and urea through the strait.
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For weeks, Moreira da Silva has been working to convince the belligerent parties to allow even a few ships through, and has met with “more than 100 countries” to rally UN member state support around the mechanism.
A growing number of countries are showing support for the plan, he said, but the US and Iran, as well as Gulf countries — who are key fertiliser producers — are not yet fully on board.
While the ultimate hope is for a “lasting peace” deal in the region and “freedom of navigation for all commodities” through the strait, “the problem is the planting season can’t wait”, Moreira da Silva said, with some ending in African nations within weeks.
