The Foreign Secretary will warn that Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz could result in tens of millions going hungry as she hosts a major aid summit on Tuesday.
In a speech in London, Yvette Cooper is expected to say the world is “sleepwalking into a global food crisis” as the Hormuz blockade disrupts global supplies of fertiliser.
The disruption comes at a crucial time for world agriculture, with Ms Cooper set to warn that fertiliser needs to begin moving through the strait within weeks to avert a crisis.
Markets are already pricing in weaker harvests and the World Food Programme estimating 45 million people could fall into acute food insecurity if the conflict does not end by the middle of the year.
Ms Cooper is expected to say: “We cannot risk tens of millions of people going hungry because one country has hijacked an international shipping lane.
“Iran’s continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz while the agriculture clock is ticking shows why we need urgent global pressure to get the strait reopened, fertiliser and fuel moving and ease the cost of living pressures.”
The Strait of Hormuz, between Iran and the Arabian peninsula, has been effectively closed since the US and Israel launched their campaign against Iran at the end of February.
Tehran’s blockade of the vital shipping lane has sent oil prices spiralling, but has also shut off access to some of the world’s most significant fertiliser factories, threatening to push food prices up as well.
With developing countries less able to absorb higher food prices, the Foreign Office warned shipments of “critical emergency aid” would be needed if fertiliser supplies did not begin to flow again soon.
Ms Cooper is expected to make her comments in an address to the Global Partnerships Conference in London, convened to set out a new approach to development amid cuts to overseas aid budgets.
Last year, the UK cut its target for aid spending to just 0.3% of GDP, while Donald Trump’s administration effectively gutted the US aid agency.
Tuesday’s summit, co-hosted by the UK and South Africa – is expected to set out an approach based on “partnership” and technical advice rather than cash payments.
Ahead of the summit, development minister Baroness Jenny Chapman said: “Countries want to have more control, move beyond aid, attract investment, strengthen their own health and education systems, and take charge of their own futures.
“Traditional development finance alone cannot meet that call, indeed it never could. Nor can it respond to the scale of today’s challenges.
“We need to bring new ideas and a broader coalition of partners to the table.”
