In the nearly two months since the start of the Iran war, prices of fuel and fertiliser have surged worldwide.The question now preoccupying economists and policymakers is when – and how hard – the fallout will hit the cost of food.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listAnalysts are in broad agreement that the true impact of the conflict has yet to be felt, due to the lag between rising agricultural input costs and higher prices on shelves.They also agree that the severity of the fallout largely hinges on how long disruption to shipping continues in the Strait of Hormuz, which normally carries about one-third of global seaborne fertiliser and one-quarter of seaborne oil.“Food prices will definitely rise in the coming months, making it more difficult for many people around the world to afford adequate and healthy diets,” Matin Qaim, executive director of the Center for Development Research at the University of Bonn in Germany, told Al Jazeera.“Poor people in Africa and Asia will be hurt the most because they have to spend a high share of their income on food anyway,” Qaim said.“Hunger and undernutrition will very likely rise.”The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) last week warned that a prolonged crisis in the strait, which Iran has closed in retaliation for the United States and Israel’s war, could lead to a global food “catastrophe”.India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Ke …
