(Bloomberg) -- A shortage of fertilizers is threatening to create a hunger crisis in Peru as political upheaval distracts authorities from scouring for alternative supplies amid the war in Ukraine, food producers warn.
Peru's agricultural industry is facing a deficit of 180,000 metric tons of urea, a key nitrogenous fertilizer, with output of staples such as of rice, potato and corn set to fall as much as 40% unless a solution is found in the coming months, according to Eduardo Zegarra, an agrarian economist and researcher at think tank GRADE.
Around the world, fertilizer prices have surged after Russian's invasion of Ukraine pushed up the cost of natural gas, the main input for most nitrogen fertilizer, forcing some producers in Europe to cut output. Markets also worry that potential sanctions on Russia, a big low-cost shipper of every major kind of crop nutrient, could disrupt global trade. Russia accounted for 70% of Peru's fertilizers last year.
“The issue of hunger for the population, for millions of citizens of the country, that is today's problem,” Climaco Cardenas, president of Peruvian farming association Conveagro, told Radio Exitosa.
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The situation has led farmers to block roads to push for the dissolution of Congress and for an agrarian reform promised by President Pedro Castillo. At the same time, authorities are debating measures to ease inflationary pressures on the population.
Castillo's administration has been beset with bitter clashes with congress and a slew of cabinet changes, with a fifth prime minister scheduled to be announced in the coming days. After two failed bids to oust the left-wing president, opposition parliamentarians are investigating him for alleged treason.
“The fertilizer crisis is one of national security,” Zegarra said. “If, in coming months, Peru doesn't buy urea from somewhere, the agricultural season will be a disaster.”
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