Global crisis and human suffering can sometimes be susceptible to the cheap loop of sloganeering and mawkish publicity, often associated with a phrase, usually annexed to the image of a suffering child with hollow eyes and distended belly.  Those viewing it are exhorted to make good their wounded conscience and give generously.  Governments, however, are not necessarily so inclined.

Unfortunately, the Iran War and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz promise another phrase that may, time permitting, catch on.  This time, it comes from David Milliband, President and CEO of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) and former UK Foreign Secretary: “The IRC is warning today of a ticking food timebomb: if the Ukraine shock drove hunger to record highs within weeks, what is now unfolding threatens to be exponentially worse.  The window to avert a massive global hunger crisis is rapidly closing.”

The conflict in Iran had “unleashed a triple emergency: a surge in humanitarian need, a global economic shock, and a system already stretched to breaking point by more than 60 simultaneous conflicts.”  The IRC notes, for instance, the plight of specific states: Sudan, threatened by having over half of its fertilisers coming from the Gulf; Kenya, with 40% of its fertiliser complement an 90% of wheat coming from the same region, in addition to serving a a re-export hub for Ethiopia, South Sudan, and Uganda.  In Somalia, desperately needed therapeutic food and other critical nutrition supplies lie stranded.

The World Food Program conducted an analysis last month postulating a........

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