This article highlights how rising tensions between the United States and Iran are affecting Philippine agriculture. Despite the distance, disruptions in global energy flows are raising farm costs, tightening supply chains, and increasing food prices, underscoring the country’s reliance on imported fuel, fertilizer, and feed inputs, and exposing vulnerabilities in long-term food system resilience today.
by Ditas R. Macabasco, Principal Agribusiness Specialist, Center for Food and Agri Business, UA&P
BY ANY MEASURE, THE ESCALATION OF TENSIONS between the United States and Iran since February is a distant geopolitical event. Yet for the Philippines, it is already translating into something far more immediate: rising farm costs, tighter supply chains, and renewed pressure on food prices.
This is not surprising. Philippine agriculture is deeply integrated into global input and commodity markets, with heavy reliance on imported fuel, fertilizer, and feed materials. These dependencies make the sector highly sensitive to external shocks, particularly disruptions in the Middle East—a key source of global oil supply and a critical corridor for energy shipping routes. When conflict affects these flows, the impact is transmitted rapidly across global food systems, reaching even geographically distant countries like the Philippines.
Do you want to read the full article? Please answer this form, and we will send the article to your email address.