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It’s planting season in much of the world. But with the Strait of Hormuz shut, there’s far less fertilizer available than usual, and what does exist is a lot more expensive. If farmers can’t fertilize their fields, they can’t grow nearly as much food.
I asked international trade scholar Aya Chacar at Florida International University to explain why the strait is so important for fertilizer – as well as oil and natural gas – and what the shortage means for the coming growing season.
The picture isn’t pretty: Unless fertilizer arrives very soon at fields across the world, farmers will grow less of major staple crops like corn, wheat and rice. That means less food for humans and less food for livestock. Producing less food at higher costs drives up prices.
And, Chacar explains, that’s just the beginning. As those costs spread throughout the food industry, she expects some groceries to get more expensive soon, and others to rise in price over the coming months – even if the war ended right now.
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Fertilizer scarcity and costs are just the beginning of the problems.
Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Aya S. Chacar, Florida International University
Fertilizer is more expensive and in shorter supply. Without the right amounts of fertilizer at specific times, yields drop, food prices increase and food shortages result.
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Education
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Health + Medicine
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Science + Technology
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International
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