G7 fertilizer pledge commits EUR 2.5 billion to 44 at-risk countries in key food security push

The Group of Seven (G7) has pledged EUR 2.5 billion (about USD 2.8 billion) to help lower-income countries secure fertilizer and shore up food security, French Economy Minister Roland Lescure said in Bangkok on October 15, 2026. France holds the rotating G7 presidency this year.

Lescure announced the G7 fertilizer pledge on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings. He said the World Bank has identified 44 countries that may face food insecurity as energy prices rise, and Bloomberg reported that the money will support fertilizer deployment to those nations, with Africa a priority. AFP reported the figure as USD 2.5 billion. Neither report detailed the disbursement channels, the split among G7 members, or a delivery timetable.

The commitment builds on the action plan that G7 finance and development ministers adopted in June with Brazil, India, Kenya and South Korea. That plan described the fertilizer problem in poorer countries as mainly one of affordability and liquidity rather than physical shortage, and called for working-capital support for smallholders and investment in local production. Six multilateral development banks have since pledged a coordinated financing roadmap for fertilizer supply chains.

The funding comes as Gulf fertilizer shipments through the Strait of Hormuz remain largely halted more than seven months after the conflict with Iran began. For importers in Africa and South Asia, the key question is whether the money reaches farmers before the next planting windows.

Sources: Bloomberg, AFP via Jamaica Observer