Soaring fertilizer costs are dramatically driving up food prices, potentially triggering a global food security crisis, Bloomberg has reported.

The International Food Policy Research Institute estimated that prices for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK) have jumped more than 140% compared to January.

The Western push for an embargo on Russian energy products could only worsen the situation. The US and European sanctions imposed against Russia have already prompted a rise in fertilizer prices. Other massive exporters of fertilizer are Belarus and China – nations that also have strained relations with the West.

Belarus has also been sanctioned for helping Russia in the Ukraine operation, while China, already at odds with the West, was criticized for being reluctant to condemn Russia’s actions.

However, the West’s sanctions spree could all but trigger a food crisis, with Theo de Jager, the president of the World Farmers’ Organization, already voicing pessimism and suggesting that such a crisis may be impossible to avert at this point.

Fertilizer is one of the most traded products in the world, with products accounting for 0.37% of the total world commerce. In 2020, fertilizers were the world’s 47th most traded product, and Russia was the largest exporter. Russia has stopped its exports of fertilizer for 2022, as China did last summer.