"Agrifood shock and price crisis"/ FAO warns countries about closing Hormuz
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz is the beginning of a "systemic agro-food shock" that could trigger a severe global food price crisis within six to 12 months, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said.
The disruption is not a temporary problem for maritime transport, the agency said, warning that "the window for preventive action is closing fast." Governments, international financial organizations and the private sector must make decisions on alternative trade routes, easing export restrictions, protecting humanitarian flows and buffers to cope with higher transport costs, the FAO added.
According to the agency, the time has come to "start thinking seriously about how to increase the absorptive capacity of countries, how to increase their resilience to this disruption, so that we can start minimizing the potential impacts."
The FAO Food Price Index - which tracks monthly changes in international prices of a basket of globally traded food commodities - rose for the third consecutive month in April, driven by high energy costs and disruptions related to the conflict in the Middle East.
In the short term, FAO recommended shifting trade to alternative land and sea routes, refraining from export restrictions - particularly for energy, fertilizers and agricultural inputs while ensuring that food aid flows are exempt from any trade restrictions.
Over the medium term, the agency called for emergency credit lines for farmers aligned with harvest periods, expanded use of digital farmer registers for rapid aid distribution, and reactivation of a funding window due to the food shock created in 2022.
The FAO also warned that the crisis could deepen with the onset of the El Niño weather phenomenon, which is expected to bring drought and disrupt rainfall patterns in some regions.
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