Ukraine Conflict: The World May Face a Food Crisis Due to Shortage of Fertilizer

We are currently on the verge of experiencing a global food crisis, which is being fortified by the effects of the rising fuel prices, pandemics, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

According to the CEO of one of the world's largest fertilizer companies, the war in Ukraine will cause a shock in global food supply and cost.  

There were obvious practical challenges with the transporting of food and grain around the world, which will become significantly worse as a consequence of the war. Crops are the foundation of our food supply chain.  

Our food supply chains end up being bankrupt if we don't have a secure supply network of quality and volume of food. In modern agricultural practices, along with sunlight and water, crops also require a constant supply of nutrients. These nutrients are transferred to plants by using fertilizers.  

Making a bag of fertilizer requires a lot of energy. The process of converting Hydrogen and Nitrogen into ammonia, also known as the Haber-Bosch process, is an important step in making fertilizers.  

According to a few estimates, this process takes up to 1-2% of all the energy that gets generated on a global scale. As a result, the cost of producing nitrogen-based fertilizer is directly related to the price of fuels. Fertilizer components in agriculture are one of the most notable variable costs of crop production. 

A farmer must establish a balanced relation between the money they are investing in fertilizers and the returns they are getting after harvesting.  

Already, the global food supply chain was in potential danger. The sudden rise in activity during the pandemic and lockdowns also increased the demand for energy resources. The hike in gas prices affected the production of fertilizers in the UK, which resulted in the high prices of fuels.