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Why the Iran war should change how we think about fertilizer

  • Publication | 2026
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Highlights:

  • The war in Iran has exposed a major vulnerability in global food production: half the world's crops depend on nitrogen fertilizer from natural gas and a third of fertilizer trade passes through a single chokepoint.
  • Restoring fertilizer supply is not enough – the world must reduce how much it requires in the first place.
  • Biochar can reduce synthetic fertilizer requirements by 20-40% but we need far more field trials to understand where it works and how to scale it.
Resources
More information and links
Geographic coverageGlobal
Originally published

18 May 2026

Related organisation(s)WEF - World Economic Forum
Knowledge service | MetadataGlobal Food and Nutrition Security | Food crises and food and nutrition securityAgroecologySustainable Food Systems | Soil organic matterSoil properties
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)technical barrier to tradefertiliserinternational transport
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AMIS Market Monitor - No. 138 May 2026
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