Warnings that Iran war risks global food crisis

伊朗战争风险引发全球粮食危机的警告

Newshour

2026-05-01

47 分钟
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The head of one of the world's biggest fertiliser manufacturers has warned that the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz - as a result of the war on Iran - could cost the world up to ten billion meals a week. Svein Holsether, who runs Yara, said farmers in the poorest countries would be hit first by the interruption to production and supply caused by the ongoing hostilities. We hear from two countries particularly affected by the shortage in industrial fertiliser. Also in the programme: despair then relief for the Oscar winner who thought an airline had lost his award; and for the first time the nose of a mouse has been mapped showing us more about the way mammals smell. (Photo: Farmers in Aceh labour amid possible fertilizer shortage due to war in Middle East. Indonesia, 28 March 2026. Credit 2026 Shutterstock Editorial. EPA/Shutterstock )
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  • Hello and welcome to NewsHour.

  • It's coming to you live from the BBC World Service studios in central London.

  • I'm Tim Franks.

  • We 're beginning the programme with some figures, some of which may seem familiar, one of which seems mind-blowing,

  • and more is leading to warnings of a slow-motion famine machine, as it 's been called.

  • The familiar figures are about the amount of traffic transiting the Strait of Hormuz,

  • that vital and blockaded waterway to the south of Iran.

  • The latest numbers suggest that just a few ships are managing to pass through the US and Iranian blockade each day.

  • Analysts with the British Navy have said today that overall shipping traffic