Tens of millions of people could face hunger and starvation if fertilisers are not allowed through the Strait of Hormuz soon, the head of a UN task force aimed at averting a looming humanitarian crisis has told the AFP news agency.

About a third of the world’s fertiliser normally passes through the waterway in the Gulf.

“We have a few weeks ahead of us to prevent what will likely be a massive humanitarian crisis,” Jorge Moreira da Silva, the executive director of the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) and leader of the task force, told AFP in an interview.