Running out of wiggle room

A farmer preparing to plant onions on a cooperative farm in Dollow, Somalia, in this file photo. Spiralling costs for imported energy and fertiliser threaten to reduce harvest yields and drive up food prices across Africa, hitting the region’s poorest countries hardest. — Finbarr O’Reilly/The New York Times

FOR a while now, the global economy has been beating the odds.

The energy shock prompted by the US and Israeli attacks on Iran in February set off the largest disruption of worldwide energy flows in history.