Britain is particularly vulnerable to shifts in the international food system: It imports almost a third of its food, and a weaker currency, driven in part by uncertainty over the country’s exit from the European Union next year, could make groceries even more expensive.

The unexpectedly severe drought in India of the past few years has affected hundreds of millions of people in the country. It has also had consequences for global markets, including for chickpeas, as India typically produces 10 times the amount of the legume as the next-biggest producer, according to data from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

In Britain, hummus has quickly gone from being a niche snack, introduced to supermarkets in the 1990s, to being a staple. The dish, a specialty of the Middle East and the Mediterranean, was voted one of the products most likely to be found in Britons’ fridges in a 2013 survey of European food habits. Annual sales of hummus in the country total more than 100 million pounds, or about $140 million, up about 50 percent from four years ago, according to the research firm Kantar Worldpanel.

Indeed, worldwide demand for hummus has driven up interest in chickpea production, and analysts expect a shift toward healthier eating will continue to bolster the dish’s popularity. Farmers in the United States, for example, were forecast to drastically raise their chickpea harvests last year, according to official data, after what was already a record year in 2016. And scientists from Scotland and Ethiopia are jointly exploring the development of drought-resistant chickpeas.

For now, some manufacturers in Britain are trying to absorb the higher costs.

Ramona Hazan’s London-based business, Ramona’s Kitchen, makes about 75 tons of hummus a month, both for supermarkets and for sale directly to customers. Each 250-gram tub costs about £1.60, but tighter margins resulting from higher chickpea prices mean she is now looking at diversifying.

“We might look at pea and mint dips, extend our range to things not as chickpea-based,” Ms. Hazan said.

Others have taken to searching for options elsewhere. AGT Poortman, which supplies chickpeas to companies that make hummus for British supermarkets, said its prices had increased around 40 percent from 2015 to 2017. To supply clients, it has asked them to allow it to buy chickpeas from a wider variety of places.