How Gulf tensions could disrupt global food supplies

Added: 2026-05-27

[00:00:00]What does it take to grow crops like this? Soil, rain, sunlight. Yes, but feeding billions of people also takes fuel.

[00:00:11]>> [music] >> And that makes our food supply vulnerable to energy shocks. Let's break it down.

[00:00:16]The Gulf is one of the richest energy producing regions in the world. Its natural gas is used to make nitrogen fertilizers, which are widely used in modern farming. Countries in the region supply 36% of globally traded urea and about 30% of ammonia. The region also provides nearly 50% of all the sulfur traded in the world.

[00:00:40]Some countries rely on gas from the Gulf to [music] produce their own fertilizer.

[00:00:44]But after the Iran war began in February, some attacks hit major [music] gas facilities in Qatar and production stopped.

[00:00:51]In Bangladesh, four out of five fertilizer factories shut down. In India, three major urea plants reduced [music] output after gas deliveries from the Gulf were disrupted. The Gulf is also a major redistribution point for food moving into the Middle East, East Africa, and parts of South Asia. The United Arab Emirates ranks among the world's leading food re-export centers, [music] linking the Gulf to more than 150 ports.

[00:01:18]But those shipments must pass through the Strait of Hormuz. And the war has severely disrupted that route. Oil prices surged more than 55% since the conflict began, while gas costs rose by about 20%.

[00:01:33]For farmers, that means higher costs at every [music] stage, from fueling tractors to moving crops to market.

[00:01:40]Fertilizer prices have surged, with nitrogen fertilizers rising by up to 50%.

[00:01:47]Many countries [music] are now in the middle of their planting season. That makes the impact especially severe in regions [music] that rely on imported fertilizer, particularly in Africa and South Asia.

[00:01:59]Some farmers are reducing how much fertilizer they use. Others are shifting away [music] from staple crops that require more, such as wheat, rice, and maize. Those decisions won't affect supply immediately, but in some regions harvest could fall by up to 30% [music] tightening global supply.

[00:02:18]Already, 266 million people worldwide struggle to find enough food. The UN warns that if disruptions continue, another 45 million people could face acute [music] hunger by the end of the year. In the worst cases, prolonged shortages can turn into famine.

[00:02:38]Feeding the world relies on a finely tuned system, and when pressure builds on one part of it, the consequences can travel far beyond the fields, often hitting the most vulnerable the hardest.