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Hormuz collapse and cascading currency crises deepen a multi-front global food emergency

The Strait of Hormuz is running at roughly 15 transits daily against a pre-war baseline of 110, after the Iran-US-Israel ceasefire collapsed in July and strike exchanges resumed. A food security assessment documents the closure's direct impact on Iraq — an early signal for Gulf-dependent importers. Currency collapse compounds the problem: Iran's currency has lost over 4,000% of value, Sudan's over 1,000%, Yemen's over 500%. Meanwhile, confirmed famine persists in Sudan's El Fasher and Kadugli; Netanyahu has rejected the proposed Gaza peace plan while Israeli forces control 70% of the Strip; Yemen's Houthi offensive in Hodeidah shattered a four-year truce; and M23 fighting re-escalated around Minembwe in eastern Congo.

These are not isolated emergencies but a connected system under strain. Hormuz disruption feeds into Gulf food import dependence, which links to East African supply chains already stressed by drought across Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya. Sudan's 33.7 million people in need — the world's largest humanitarian caseload — and Yemen's 18.3 million acutely food insecure sit alongside a Sahel belt where Mali's coordinated offensive has severed western supply routes and Burkina Faso's besieged towns face credible famine risk. A 7.4-magnitude earthquake in Colombia on August 10, affecting 1.5 million in severe shaking zones, adds sudden-onset disaster to a landscape already at capacity.

Watch items

• Iran — Hormuz transit collapse choking Gulf food imports
• Sudan — feared El Obeid ground assault deepening famine
• Mali — fuel blockade strangling Bamako and southern cities