Turning Two Problems into One Solution: Sargassum, Organic Waste, and the Case for Homegrown Fertilizer
The closure of the Strait of Hormuz has done more than rattle oil markets. It has quietly exposed the fragility of our regional food security. Before the disruption, the Strait was a major route in global nitrogen fertilizer trade, carrying shipments of ammonia and urea from Middle Eastern producers. According to WTO tracking data published in July, outbound fertilizer-related shipments through the Strait essentially flatlined when the conflict began and had not shown sustained recovery.
Urea prices jumped by more than 28% within the first three weeks of the disruption alone. Unlike oil, however, fertilizer has no comparable international system of emergency reserves to cushion a prolonged supply shock. When supply tightens, the effects move directly to farmers and eventually to food prices on our own shelves. For a region that imports most of its agricultural inputs, this is not some distant problem happening elsewhere. It is a direct threat to the affordability of food in Saint Lucia and the region over the coming year.
Interestingly, we already have two abundant, locally available waste streams that could ease our dependence on imported nitrogen fertilizer, and one of them is a problem we are already paying to clean up.
Sargassum continues to wash ashore along our east coast in large volumes, and Saint Lucia is not starting from scratch in finding productive uses for it. Algas Organics, a homegrown Saint Lucian company, began processing wet sargassum into organic biofertilizer in 2015, working alongside the Saint Lucia Fisherfolk Co-operative Society at what became the Caribbean’s first sargassum-processing facility.
On its own, sargassum is not especially rich in nitrogen, but it is a valuable soil bio-stimulant, and regional research has also shown that it can be composted successfully alongside other organic material, if it is properly desalinated and screened for heavy metals.
This is where the second piece fits in. Organic waste, such as farm animal manure, food scraps, fish and animal processing waste, and general agricultural by-products can complement sargassum-based compost. When combined, these materials could help offset some imported synthetic fertilizer use, particularly for smaller farms that do not require industrial-scale nitrogen applications.
This approach offers benefits that extend beyond Saint Lucia. If production exceeds what Saint Lucia’s farms can absorb, there is a real opportunity to export surplus organic fertilizer to neighboring islands facing similar supply pressures. This is precisely the type of cargo an intra-regional vessel, the very initiative the Chamber has been exploring, could carry on its return journeys between islands, moving a homegrown, in-demand product outward instead of sailing empty or underutilized. A regionally produced and distributed fertilizer supply, carried by regionally owned shipping, would be a meaningful step toward food security that is less vulnerable to disruptions six thousand miles away.
The Chamber sees real value in bringing the right stakeholders together before the next Hormuz-style shock catches us flat-footed again. That means connecting the Ministry of Agriculture, the Saint Lucia Fisher Folk Co-operative Society, and existing organic fertilizer producers with regional development funding to scale initiatives already underway. Organizations such as IICA, the CDB and FAO Caribbean have supported similar projects in other areas, offering a foundation on which to build.