Postdocs/RTD Seminar Series at the Collegio Carlo Alberto
May 2026
Torino – Italy
New evidence on fertiliser import dependence and food security
The STAPLES Project featured at the Postdocs/RTD Seminar Series at the Collegio Carlo Alberto in Torino (Italy), with a presentation by Iacopo Maria Taddei on ongoing research on fertiliser import dependence and food security.
The study, titled “Fertilizer Import Dependence and Food Security: Evidence from Global Energy Price Shocks”, is co-authored with STAPLES partners Prof. Giorgia Giovannetti (CCA), Prof. Alessia A. Amighini (CCA), and Prof. Chahir Zaki (Economic Research Forum), and contributes to the research agenda of the STAPLES Project, funded by the PRIMA Partnership.
How energy price shocks affect food security
The study examines how countries’ reliance on imported fertilisers affects food security outcomes, highlighting the central role of global energy markets. In particular, fluctuations in natural gas prices — a key input in fertiliser production — emerge as an important transmission channel influencing agricultural productivity and access to food.
How imported fertilisers influence food security
Using a cross-country empirical approach and an instrumental variable strategy based on exogenous variation in international gas prices, the research provides evidence that greater access to imported fertilisers is associated with improved food security, while also pointing to vulnerabilities linked to global energy shocks.
The study also introduces a novel methodology to assess the relationship between fertiliser import dependence and food security, combining global energy price shocks with groups of countries sharing similar economic, agricultural, and resource characteristics. This approach, combining global energy price shocks with country-level characteristics, helps provide new evidence on the links between fertiliser access, agricultural productivity, and food security.
This work contributes to the STAPLES Project research, strengthening the understanding of the nexus between energy, agricultural inputs, and food systems.
More information about the seminar and the study can be found below.
This article was carried out within the framework of the STAPLES project, part of the PRIMA Programme, supported by the European Union under Grant Agreement No. 2333. Views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the PRIMA Foundation or the European Union, and neither of them can be held responsible for the information contained.
