Fertiliser shortages due to the Iran war are a pressing concern for developing countries and gains from rising oil and gas prices for developing world producers are likely to be short-lived, the head of the United Nations trade agency tells Reuters.

“The more immediate issue is fertiliser, because that then affects food security and food security is always the basis for stability,” says Pamela Coke-Hamilton, executive director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), adding that oil and gas could be secured from other places so that the situation was “not as dire” even if price hikes were a problem.

Coke-Hamilton, whose agency focuses on promoting trade for developing countries, noted that a third of global urea would normally pass through the Strait of Hormuz, which Iran and the United States are blockading.

“There are significant issues with respect to availability of fertilisers and also there’s a timeline for agriculture in terms of ensuring you have enough for the next harvest, which is being missed now,” she tells Reuters.

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