Exclusive-US is leading G20 initiative to ensure fertilizer access, sources say

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON, April 17 (Reuters) - The U.S. is urging G20 members and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank to take coordinated action to ensure fertilizer access amid disruptions in food trade supply chains caused by the war in the Middle East, two sources familiar with the matter said on Friday.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent views fertilizer and agriculture supply chains as of essential importance, and is encouraging collaboration among G20 members and the global financial institutions, the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The IMF and others have warned that supply chain disruptions caused by the war, especially to fertilizer at the start of the critical growing season, threaten to push 45 million more people into a position of food insecurity.

Several sub-Saharan African nations already are seeking help, and the IMF expects at least a dozen countries to negotiate new lending programs with the global crisis lender as a result of the war, which has also sent energy prices sharply higher.

The U.S. is the current chair of the Group of 20 major economies, which includes Russia, China, Saudi Arabia, as well as the African Union and European Union.

The U.S. views fertilizer as intrinsic to food security, and views the initiative as an action that G20 members "can immediately move on," said one senior U.S. official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

Details of the plan were not immediately available, but Washington is emphasizing the need for agility and flexibility in policy responses and cooperation on fertilizer.

The United Nations has been pushing a separate initiative to create a humanitarian corridor through the Strait of Hormuz to ensure that fertilizer and other needed goods get through.

(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Paul Simao)