By Prosper Makene
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault received yesterday a deposit of more than 30,000 new seed samples from 23 depositors across 21 countries, including seven international genebanks.
This marks the largest number of depositors since the Seed Vault received samples from a record-breaking 35 genebanks in 2020, underscoring the urgent global effort to conserve crop diversity in the face of escalating climate change, conflict and other crises.
The deposit includes first-time contributions from genebanks in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Chad, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea and Suriname. The Crop Trust is providing financial and technical support to these and other countries to help them take the necessary steps to preserve their collections in the long-term. This support is made possible by generous financial contributions from Norway as part of the ‘Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods, and Development’ (BOLD) project.
Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust said in a statement: “Climate change and conflict threaten infrastructure and impact food security for over 700 million people in more than 75 countries worldwide. Genebanks are ramping up efforts to back-up seed collections, and we are proud to support them by providing a safe haven in Svalbard”.
Recent climate data underscores the urgency of this work. 2023 was the hottest year since global records began, by a wide margin. Of the 30 deadliest weather events ever recorded in Africa, five occurred in 2022-2023, and Asia remains the worlds most disaster-prone region. Meanwhile, yields of the main cereals in sub-Saharan Africa are less than half of the world average. This highlights the pressing need to conserve, explore and use the diversity of both forgotten crops and of the better-known staples found in the world’s genebanks.
“Humanity depends on a wide diversity of genetic resources to meet future challenges. Therefore, it is gratifying that many genebanks choose to be part of this seed deposit,” said Lise Lykke Steffensen, executive director of the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). “The Seed Vault has an important purpose to secure these valuable collections, not least given the state of the world today. We are pleased to continue working on this task.”
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault operates through a partnership between the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, the Crop Trust and the Nordic Genetic Resource Center (NordGen). The Seed Vault serves as a vital backup for genebanks all over the world.
“The Svalbard Global Seed Vault demonstrates the value of international cooperation and Norway’s role in this cooperation,” said Geir Pollestad, Norway’s Minister of Agriculture and Food said. “In a world where climate change and conflict pose ever-growing threats to food security and sovereignty, this facility ensures that the genetic diversity we need to adapt our food systems remains available to all.”
Noteworthy October 2024 deposits to the Global Seed Vault include:
India: The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), an international genebank based in India, is depositing 2,950 seeds of 56 species, including pearl millet, sorghum and 28 different Arachis — wild relatives of the peanut (groundnut), nine of which are new to the Seed Vault. Some of these wild relatives provide high-protein feed for livestock and a nitrogen source in some farming systems. In addition, ICRISAT is sending seeds that will become part of a 100-year experiment, where six partners deposit seeds of food staples and periodically evaluate their viability.
Bolivia: The 400-year-old Universidad Mayor Real y Pontificia de San Francisco Xavier de Chuquisaca, one of the oldest universities in the Americas, is making Bolivia’s first-ever deposit, safely duplicating maize and bean varieties deeply tied to Indigenous cultures. Some 125 farming families from local communities, registered as “Seed Guardians,” were key to assembling the collection.
“This deposit goes beyond conserving crops; it’s about protecting our culture,” said Alfredo José Salinas Arcienega, project coordinator of BOLD in Bolivia. “Each maize variety holds cultural significance for Indigenous communities. As early season drought and frost threatens traditional farming practices, these seeds become a lifeline for both our agricultural and cultural heritage.
Philippines: The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is depositing over 7,000 rice samples, the largest number of samples in this deposit. This is a crucial contribution given that rice feeds more than half the world’s population. In addition, the country’s national genebank — National Plant Genetic Resources Laboratory — is depositing another nearly 1,000 seeds of 14 crops. These include sorghum, an important cereal crop, and okra, a vegetable rich in dietary fiber, vitamins and minerals, and in high demand in export markets such as Korea.
Chad: A newcomer to the Seed Vault, the Institut Tchadien de Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement is depositing 1,145 samples of sesame, rice, maize and sorghum. This contribution is particularly significant, as these crop varieties are adapted to Chad’s harsh climate, and therefore crucial for developing crops that can withstand increasing temperatures and erratic rainfall.
Tanzania: The World Vegetable Center (WorldVeg) genebank in Tanzania is depositing over 100 accessions of vegetables and other crops, filling a critical gap. Less than 10% of accessions conserved in genebanks are of the more than 1,100 vegetable species around the world. There’s an urgent need to rescue and conserve vegetable diversity to address malnutrition. Growing more vegetables, especially in Africa, also means more jobs and resilient farms.
“The WorldVeg genebank in Tanzania has a direct line to farmers, who — through seed kits containing a variety of vegetable seeds, including leafy amaranth and okra — grow and sell these crops to supermarkets,” said Maarten van Zonneveld, Head of Genetic Resources at WorldVeg.
In addition, Sudan’s Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre (APGRC), prepared hundreds of samples of sorghum and pearl millet seeds with support from BOLD. Genebank staff assembled the seeds despite war raging in the country and lack of access to the main national genebank in Wad Medani. Security trucks transported the seeds to Port Sudan for outward shipment. NordGen will sort, catalogue and dry every seed sample before the final transfer to Svalbard in February 2025.
Seeds also come from another area of intense conflict. The Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine has delivered seeds of 21 species of vegetables, legumes and herbs.
Many of the seeds in this deposit represent “opportunity crops” — crops that can thrive in challenging conditions and have untapped potential to improve food security, nutrition, and resilience to climate change. Due to changing trends in food and agriculture, many of these crops have been left out of peoples’ meals and policymakers’ agendas. They include crops like okra, millets and pigeon pea.
