A top-ranking UN diplomat has cautioned that several parts of Asia and Africa are likely to witness a food crisis unless Iran and the US promptly agree on the proposed UN initiative that seeks to ensure safe transit of fertilizer vessels in the strait of Hormuz ahead of the forthcoming planting season. The conflict between the two countries has greatly disrupted maritime transport in the channel, which used to facilitate about a third of urea and almost half of the global sulfur trade in the past, leading to the virtually zero shipment of fertilizer due to sky-high prices and shortage for farmers in South Asia and Europe. Rather than wait for political wrangling to come up with a comprehensive peace agreement, the UN is suggesting that an Oman-based coordination hub be established to monitor and guide some five fertilizers each day to prevent crop yield failures and food price surges until 2027.