How the Iran War Affects the Global Food Chain | The High Top

In this episode of The High Top, Caitlin Welsh, Director of the Global Food and Water Security Program, joins Jon B. Alterman, Brzezinski Chair in Global Security and Geostrategy, to examine how the Iran War is affecting global food systems. Their conversation unpacks the effects of conflict in the Gulf on global fertilizer markets, the cost of producing and trading food, and food access in the Middle East and around the world.

A big part of the story is fertilizer. Although relatively little grows in the arid Gulf, the region is central to global agriculture. Roughly 20–30% of global fertilizer exports move through the Strait of Hormuz, and prices for key nitrogen fertilizers have already surged to their highest levels since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Higher fertilizer prices raise the cost of crops, and higher fuel prices mean it is more expensive to grow, transport, and refrigerate produce. Food prices are being pushed upwards from many directions at once, and that affects poor countries even more than rich ones. 

To explore how this war is reshaping food security worldwide, tune into Jon and Caitlin’s full conversation.

This event is made possible through general support to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.