Rome, Aug. 10 (SANA) The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has warned that converging international shocks—including the European heatwave, the Strait of Hormuz crisis, and the El Niño phenomenon—are posing serious threats to global food security.
Maximo Torero, the FAO’s chief economist, said on X that the shocks include Europe’s ongoing heatwave, the El Niño climate pattern, the Hormuz crisis disrupting energy and fertilizer supplies, and threats to Ukraine’s Black Sea grain exports.
He urged countries to prevent these shocks from worsening, given their impact on international markets, even as they cannot prevent the shocks themselves.
European crop production declines
According to European official statistics cited by Torero, the heatwave has already hit agricultural production in the first half of 2026 compared to the same period in 2025.
Citing the European Commission’s crop monitoring report, he said total grain production in the EU fell 9.3 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year, with corn down 13.8 percent, potatoes down 3 percent, and sunflowers down 7 percent.
Strait of Hormuz disruptions continue to ripple
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to weigh on the global economy, with supply chains severely disrupted. The strait is a critical chokepoint for oil and gas shipments, and its closure has driven up energy and fertilizer costs, straining agricultural production worldwide.
El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon that occurs every 4 to 12 years, raising surface water temperatures in the Pacific Ocean and generating warm currents and masses in tropical regions, which in turn drive global climate shifts.
The combination of El Niño, the Hormuz crisis and the European heatwave have created a rare confluence of shocks that analysts say could drive up food prices and worsen food insecurity in vulnerable regions. Ukraine’s grain exports, a key source of global wheat and corn supplies, have also faced renewed threats in the Black Sea.
Kh.A / H.H
