Treasure in the desert

Pretty much every time I grab a bite to eat, I am consuming the ill-gotten gains of one of the world’s more flagrant invasions of one country by another. So, probably, are you ??? wherever you are in the world. And with growing concern about food shortages, this international crime could come back to haunt us.

How come? Because the world’s food supplies are alarmingly dependent on phosphate fertiliser hewn from the desert of Western Sahara. This mining takes place under the gaze of troops from neighbouring Morocco, which took over the country 32 years ago.


If the people of Western Sahara ever resume their war to get their country back, we may be adding phosphate fertiliser to the list of things constraining world food supplies.

New Scientist