Safeguarding Strait of Hormuz is securing world’s ability to feed itself

In the aftermath of the recent peace talks that succeeded in halting military escalation and reopened maritime corridors—the world has begun to breathe a cautious sigh of relief.

- Dr Abdullah Belhaif AlNuaimi

Yet beneath this welcome calm lies a deeper truth: The crisis surrounding the Strait of Hormuz has not ended; it has merely shifted from the realm of immediate danger to the realm of long-term consequence. For while the guns have fallen silent, the shockwaves they produced continue to ripple through the global food system.

Throughout the crisis, global and regional media focused almost exclusively on oil and gas — rising prices, halted tankers, and the fragility of energy supply routes. This focus was understandable, but it masked a far more consequential dimension—one that persists even after the diplomatic breakthrough.

The disruption of Hormuz did not only threaten energy markets; it struck at the very foundations of global agriculture. When a maritime artery as vital as the Strait of Hormuz is obstructed, even temporarily, it is not only ships that stall, but the entire agricultural chain that depends on fertilizers, gas, and sulfur materials that flow through this narrow passage and sustain the world’s soil.

Crisis of soil chemistry

A professor of soil and agricultural sciences at the University of Reading—where my son is pursuing his doctoral studies—reminded me recently that what we witnessed was not merely a geopolitical crisis, but a crisis of soil chemistry.