Trump-led War Against Iran Triggers Global Hunger Crisis
President Donald Trump's war against Iran has disrupted fertilizer exports through the Strait of Hormuz, exacerbating global hunger and child malnutrition across Africa and Asia.
A war launched in 2026 by Donald Trump and Israel against Iran is exacerbating global hunger and reversing decades of progress in fighting undernourishment. The conflict has throttled critical supply chains in the Strait of Hormuz, a transit point for approximately 30% of global fertilizer exports. The World Bank projects a 60% spike in urea prices this year, which prices farmers in poor countries out of the market and increases child stunting and wasting across Africa and Asia.
This crisis is part of a broader polycrisis involving climate-driven droughts, the effects of El Nino, and the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine, which previously disrupted global wheat exports. These combined factors threaten the United Nations' goal of achieving zero hunger by 2030.
Compounding the food insecurity, the Trump administration has dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development, withdrawn from the Paris Agreement, and slashed funding to the UN World Food Program. These policy shifts have halted humanitarian projects in Yemen, Sudan, and Haiti, while reducing global climate mitigation efforts.
