(Bloomberg) — The United Nations is ready to set up a corridor to allow fertilizer to move freely through the Strait of Hormuz and reach farmers for the planting season — but doing so hinges on a political agreement to go forward, according to a top UN official.
“The UN is ready — we have the teams identified, we have the system prepared, we have the technical design of the mechanism. We just need a political and diplomatic solution that allows us to start,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, who is overseeing the initiative, said in an interview.
Talks with UN member states are underway in a bid to reach an international agreement, da Silva said. He didn’t share who was involved but said he’s having “extensive conversations with countries in the region, not only those that are more direct affected and involved in the conflict, but also globally.”
The Hormuz strait has remained effectively shut since the war began. Iran was initially responsible for the halt and the US followed with its own blockade of ships leaving or entering Iranian ports on Monday. Negotiators from the two countries held ceasefire talks in Pakistan last weekend but were unable to reach a deal on ending the conflict.
With the Strait of Hormuz effectively shut, shipments of fertilizer have ground to a halt — leaving farmers without the inputs needed to secure plentiful harvests and countries already exposed to hunger even more vulnerable. The Middle East is a vital supplier of nutrients for production of staples like corn, wheat and rice, and a key source of ingredients for their production elsewhere.
Da Silva’s task force draws on previous UN efforts such as the Black Sea Grain Initiative, an agreement between Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and the UN that saw millions of tons of grains mobilized and markets stabilized in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The new fertilizer mechanism will address issues including “monitoring, verification, and reporting,” da Silva said.
Fertilizer supply disruptions are hitting at a critical moment in the planting season.
“If we miss that window, then we will be talking about humanitarian aid,” da Silva said. “In my discussions, I am making it clear why this is needed, what the consequences of inaction will be.”
–With assistance from Ellen Milligan.
