Global agriculture faces unprecedented challenges.

There is no single solution to tackling them, but the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals recognise that it is critical to conserve the diversity of the plants and animals we farm.

Much of the agricultural diversity once found in farmers’ fields has disappeared. Concerned it would be lost forever, scientists have spent the last 100 years travelling the world, collecting samples of roots and tubers and seeds in order to safeguard them for posterity.

Genebanks keep these precious samples safe in storage; available to all who want to use them. The stored seeds hold many secrets. Unlocking them will help everyone on our planet.

CGIAR research centres manage some of the largest and most used genebanks in the world.

These genebanks hold more than 750,000 samples of crop and tree diversity. Every year, they help people breed better crops, by distributing more than 120,000 accessions to researchers, breeders, NGOs, farmers and users in more than 100 countries.

The CGIAR Genebank Platform, a partnership between CGIAR and the Crop Trust, supports the genebanks to meet international standards. Investing in technologies, such as cryopreservation, disease diagnostics and fingerprinting can vastly improve efficiency.

But conserving crop diversity is just the first step. We need to build stronger cooperation between breeders, researchers, farmers and genebank managers, developing tools that will allow everyone to share results and knowledge. It’s how we can help achieve the United Nations’ goal of eliminating hunger.

These resources are for everyone. Genebanks benefit us all.

Learn more at genebanks.org.

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