Food insecurity is the ‘hidden devil’ of global conflicts: The case of urea | Daily FT
Analysis Summary
- Propaganda Score
- 0% (confidence: 100%)
- Summary
- The article discusses the economic impacts of global conflicts, particularly focusing on food insecurity and the disruption of urea fertilizer supply chains. It highlights how conflicts have led to higher fertilizer prices and reduced agricultural productivity, with specific examples of countries like Sri Lanka facing severe shortages. The text also mentions export restrictions by nations such as China and India, contributing to global market instability.
Fact-Check Results
“Wars and conflicts have always had serious negative effects on economies around the world.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to confirm or refute historical economic impacts of conflicts.
“The main commodity that gets disrupted is energy, resulting in uncertainty, driving sharp increases in fuel prices, and leading to shortages, especially in countries that depend heavily on imported energy.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to verify energy disruption patterns during conflicts.
“Since the 1973 oil crisis, many regional conflicts have caused such disruptions.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to confirm regional conflict-energy disruption links since 1973.
“Tensions involving Israel, the United States, and Iran have affected not only oil but also natural gas supplies.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to verify impacts of Israel-US-Iran tensions on energy supplies.
“About one-third of globally traded fertilisers pass through the Strait of Hormuz.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to confirm fertilizer trade volumes through Strait of Hormuz.
“The price of urea rose from about $ 350 per Mt before March 2026 to around $ 684 per Mt by 20 March 2026.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to verify urea price changes between 2023-2026.
“China has now restricted exports of agricultural inputs to secure their domestic supply and control prices amid global shortages.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to confirm China's export restrictions on agricultural inputs.
“India restricted the export of non-basmati rice between 2023 and 2024 to control domestic prices.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to verify India's rice export restrictions (2023-2024).
“India is a major producer of urea, it does not export the product.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to confirm India's urea export policies.
“By 2025, paddy production exceeded 5 million Mt, nearing the previous records set in 2020 and 2021.”
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INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
— No evidence in archive to verify Sri Lanka's paddy production claims for 2025.
“Only about 83,000 Mt of urea were reportedly used, i.e. around 154 kg of urea per hectare.”
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“The Department of Agriculture (DOA) provides fertiliser recommendations based on climatic zones and water supply for the crops.”
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“Sri Lanka has about 102,000 Mt of urea available. Although orders have been placed for an additional 77,000 Mt, more than half of these have reportedly been cancelled due to the global crisis, with only about 16,000 Mt expected to arrive.”
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“For irrigated paddy in the Dry and Intermediate Zones, about 225 kg per hectare is required, while the Wet Zone requires about 140 kg.”
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“In 2025, the Yala season recorded a high cultivation extent of paddy, about 540,000 hectares.”
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“The Maha cultivation season has just ended, with some areas affected by extreme weather.”
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“The shortage of nitrogen-based fertilisers across the agricultural sector is indicated.”
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