World Trade Organization official: Middle East conflict affecting global food security.

Jean-Marie Paugam, Deputy Director-General of the World Trade Organization, warned on the 25th that current conflicts in the Middle East are disrupting fertilizer supplies, posing a dual threat of high grain prices and food shortages to global food security. Paugam said in an interview with Agence France-Presse in Yaound, Cameroon, that fertilizer is currently one of the most concerning issues, "If there is not enough fertilizer, it will not only affect production, but also prices." He warned that these impacts will worsen in the second year, "Reduced harvests, rising prices."