Previously distributed by the World Farmers Organisation on April 8, 2026.
The World Farmers’ Organisation (WFO), representing farmers’ organisations worldwide, warns that the escalation of conflict in the Middle East is already disrupting oil, gas and fertiliser markets, threatening agricultural production and raising serious risks for global food security.
As tensions affect the Strait of Hormuz – a key corridor for global energy and fertiliser trade – disruptions are translating into lower input availability and consequent higher costs of input, as well as rising shipping and logistics expenses driven by reduced vessel availability and higher fuel prices. Together, these dynamics are increasing uncertainties for the farmers and are affecting food production decisions, influencing food price volatility, particularly in import-dependent countries, at a critical moment in the agricultural cycle, with risks that will materialise in the months ahead.
Across the WFO global network, farmers are experiencing the early effects of these disruptions already. Rising costs of fuel, fertilisers, and global transportation and logistics, combined with limited price visibility and uncertainty in input markets, are constraining farmers’ ability to plan, invest, and produce under predictable conditions.
Uncertainty around the availability and price of fertilisers and energy is already influencing decisions on input use, crop management, and investment, with direct consequences for yields and future supply. Fertiliser costs have risen sharply since the beginning of the crisis, while crop prices have remained largely stable – a combination that is squeezing farm margins at historically poor levels, leaving farmers with limited capacity to absorb further shocks.
When farmers are forced to adjust input use under pressure, the consequences extend beyond individual farms. Lower or suboptimal input use today translates into reduced production tomorrow, increasing pressure on food security and contributing to food price volatility at the global level. The shift from input market disruption to reduced crop supply would unfold over seasons – but the window to act is now, before production decisions for the coming cycles are finalised.
These risks are uneven but interconnected. In import-dependent regions, particularly across parts of Africa and Asia, pressures on input availability and affordability risk translating rapidly into lower productivity and heightened food insecurity, with disproportionate impacts on vulnerable populations, especially in cities. At the same time, farmers in export-oriented systems are facing rising production costs and tightening margins, with no relief from crop prices to offset higher input costs — further limiting their capacity to invest and respond to demand.
“Farmers are already being forced to adjust how they produce in response to rising energy and fertiliser costs and growing uncertainty,” said Arnold Puech d’Alissac, President of the World Farmers’ Organisation. “When inputs become unpredictable, production is at risk — and so is global food security.”
WFO calls for urgent and coordinated action to stabilise markets and safeguard agricultural production. Immediate priorities include:
- Ensuring access to fertilisers and energy under affordable and predictable conditions.
- Strengthening market transparency.
- Providing targeted financial support to farmers facing rising costs and uncertainty.
- Governments should coordinate the crisis response together with the farmers’ organisations at all levels, in order to ensure that actions are farmer-driven and solution-oriented.
At the same time, the situation highlights the need for long-term structural resilience, strengthening domestic and regional production capacities, sustainable fertiliser solutions, and greater incentives for the integration of renewable energy in agriculture.
At a time of heightened geopolitical tensions, WFO stresses that maintaining open, predictable and rules-based trade flows is essential to prevent further disruptions in fertiliser, energy and food markets, and to avoid additional pressure on farmers and consumers.
Global food security depends on farmers’ ability to continue to produce under stable and predictable conditions. When that stability is undermined, the risks to food systems are immediate and systemic. Farmers must be recognised as central actors in safeguarding resilient and accessible food systems worldwide.
