Disruptions to shipping traffic through the Hormuz Strait in 2026 have driven up fertilizer prices and increased pressure on farmers, amid concerns that reduced fertilizer use could lower crop yields in coming seasons. The Arabian Gulf region accounts for 46 percent of global urea exports.
Urea is the most widely used nitrogen fertilizer in the world. Qatar plays a major role in the market through Qatar Fertiliser Company, or QAFCO, the world’s largest urea exporter from a single production site.
Hormuz: a key link in the fertilizer trade
Dr Iman Adainat, an assistant professor in the Operations Management programme at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar, said the focus on the Hormuz Strait’s role in transporting oil and gas obscures the importance of the passage to the fertilizer trade, a commodity directly linked to global food production.
When we talk about the Hormuz Strait, the conversation naturally turns to oil and gas. Yet this narrow passage plays a prominent role in transporting another commodity that affects the food reaching our tables
Adainat said the impact of disruptions to fertilizer supplies does not reach consumers immediately. Instead, it emerges gradually through farming costs and crop yields, and it may take several months before being reflected in food prices.
She added: “The risk posed by fertilizer shortages is not that food will disappear from store shelves in the near term, but that crop yields may decline in coming seasons. By the time these repercussions are reflected in food prices, several months may have passed since the supply crisis began. In other words, the shelves remain full, but at a higher cost to consumers.”
Adainat said strengthening resilience requires multiple alternatives for fertilizer supplies, much like keeping backup generators on hand to deal with possible disruptions to electricity grids.
Turning waste into agricultural inputs
Qatar Foundation is exploring ways to strengthen the resilience of the food system through the Sustainability Island project, where farming methods, resource management and new technologies are being tested in an integrated manner, according to Wasim Mohammed Al-Alami, the foundation’s strategic initiatives adviser.
Al-Alami said: “We seek to build a system capable of adapting to different conditions. Our role is to identify the essential pillars needed to achieve this and explore the most viable solutions through research and development.”
The efforts include converting organic waste into fertilizer and other nutrient-rich agricultural inputs, while drawing on research and partnerships with the private sector to test solutions that can be implemented on a large scale.
More than 1 billion tonnes of food are wasted worldwide every year, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, making food waste a potential resource for fertilizer production and for supporting the development of a more sustainable food system.
Education and partnerships to support resilience
During the first two years after the launch of Sustainability Island, the project hosted more than 5,000 students and trained around 250 teachers as part of an approach combining research, practical application and education, and turning sustainability concepts into real-world experiences.
Al-Alami said food security depends on an interconnected system spanning nutrient production and agriculture through to processing and distribution. He stressed the importance of partnerships, directing research towards practical challenges and supporting innovation.
Adainat said Qatar, as a producing country, has an opportunity to play a leading role in developing more sustainable solutions, drawing on its advanced production capabilities and growing research base to help build food systems that are more resilient and better able to withstand shocks.
