Longyearbyen, Norway
February 25, 2025

Partner organizations from across the globe are gathering in Norway this week to deposit seeds in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, with Sudan making a deposit amid the country’s ongoing civil war

Over 14,000 seed samples from 21 genebanks are being deposited in the icy chambers of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week. The seed samples include essential varieties of sorghum and pearl millet from Sudan’s crop genebank, a collection nearly destroyed during the country’s civil war; so-called “velvet beans” from Malawi that support both sustainable agriculture and traditional medicine; critical food crops from a Philippine genebank that’s been ravaged by typhoons and fires; and a major collection of more than 3,000 varieties of rice, beans and maize from Brazil, the host of this year’s global climate negotiations.

Marking a milestone in international collaboration, this week’s deposit is the culmination of the safety duplication element of the Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project, a 10-year effort generously funded by the government of Norway and managed by the Crop Trust. Genebanks need “safety duplicates” of their collections stored in a different location, but duplication takes time, effort and money — resources many genebanks lack. The BOLD project provided technical and financial support to 42 partners worldwide, 10 of whom will be represented at the ceremony in Svalbard this week.

This week also marks the 66th deposit in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which has received seed samples from 123 genebanks in 85 countries around the world since its inauguration in February 2008.

“This moment is a powerful reminder that securing our food future requires collective action,” said Stefan Schmitz, executive director of the Crop Trust. “Through our partnerships, including the BOLD project, we’ve worked with institutions around the world to safeguard vital crop diversity. The seeds deposited this week represent not just biodiversity, but also the knowledge, culture and resilience of the communities that steward them. We must find a way to protect this crop diversity for generations to come.”

Following the deposit ceremony, the first-ever Svalbard International Dialogue will bring together high-level government officials, crop experts and global thought leaders to discuss the challenge of safeguarding crop diversity amid increasing environmental pressures and escalating global conflicts.

The participation of genebanks from nations like the Philippines and Sudan underscores the Seed Vault’s role as a safeguard against the parallel crises of changing climates and conflict.

“Sudan is securing their collections in Svalbard, ensuring that their agricultural heritage is protected from the threats of climate change, conflict and loss,” said Lise Lykke Steffensen, executive director of NordGen, the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources, which supported Sudan’s deposit. “This recent deposit, involving genebanks from around the globe, highlights the critical importance of international collaboration in preserving genetic resources and the trust that binds these efforts. NordGen is proud to handle these invaluable seed samples in the Seed Vault, ensuring their preservation for future generations.”

Sudan’s Deposit: A Story of Resilience

This week will see the sixth deposit from Sudan (the first was in 2019), which has been embroiled in a civil war since 2023. The Sudanese national genebank, located in the city of Wad Medani, had conserved more than 17,000 seeds, but militants raided and looted the freezers, scattering the seeds. With the support of the Emergency Reserve for Genebanks, a funding facility managed by the Crop Trust and the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, hundreds of seed samples were transported to NordGen, where staff there sorted, catalogued, packed and documented them as part of the Sudanese deposit. The rescued Sudanese seeds will be deposited into the Seed Vault this week.

Sudan is depositing seed samples of 15 species, including many varieties of sorghum. The plant, which has been cultivated in what we now call Sudan for thousands of years, is deeply tied to Sudanese cultural heritage. Sorghum is also a lifeline for food security in the country, as its ability to withstand drought makes it crucial for adaptation to climate change. 

“In Sudan, where conflict has displaced more than eight million people and disrupted agriculture, these seeds represent hope,” said Ali Babikar, director of Sudan’s Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre (APGRC). “By safeguarding this diversity in Svalbard, we’re preserving options for a resilient, food-secure future, regardless of the challenges we face.”

The Philippines’ Contribution: A Mega-Biodiverse Nation Under Threat

Another important deposit this week is coming from the Philippines, a country that shows a striking combination of high genetic diversity and extreme vulnerability to crisis. The Philippines ranks number one globally on the World Risk Index, a measure of vulnerability and exposure to natural extreme events. It is also one of only 18 countries to be labeled “mega-biodiverse.”

Extreme events have already destroyed some of the nation’s seed stocks. In 2006, Typhoon Milenyo battered the national genebank, submerging seed collections in knee-deep water and mud. Many seed samples were lost. In 2012, a fire engulfed the genebank building, destroying 60% of the total crop collections conserved in vitro. Many of these had no backups anywhere in the world. 

But the country, with international support, is taking important steps to ensure that no further diversity will be lost. With support from the BOLD Project, partners from the Philippines are visiting Svalbard this week to deposit seeds of eggplant, rice bean, lima bean and sorghum. 

“The rapid loss of genetic diversity in the field and loss of diversity in our diets make conservation and accessibility more important than ever,” said Hidelisa De Chavez of the University of the Philippines, adding that crop diversity “is the backbone of agriculture around the world.”

Malawi’s Contribution: The Value of the Velvet Bean

Malawi, another BOLD partner, is making a deposit this week that includes velvet beans. This opportunity crop enables farmers to boost production and keep their soils healthy, while also offering important medicinal benefits. 

Also known as kalongonda locally and Mucuna pruriens to botanists, the seed pods of velvet beans are covered in a dense layer of fine, velvety hairs — which inspired the plant’s common name. The beans are a nitrogen-fixing legume that when used as a fertilizer can more than double maize yields. The species, which is also used in traditional medicine, boasts high levels of levodopa, a compound used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. 

“Crop diversity reduces the risk of food crises at local, regional, sub-regional and global levels,” said Nolipher Mponya, an agricultural research scientist who works for the government of Malawi. “By conserving crop diversity, we are protecting the future of our foods. We are also maintaining the genes for crop improvement, feed and habitat for pollinators and ensuring the direct and indirect health and economic benefits from these crops.”

Protecting the World’s Crops: The BOLD Project’s Legacy

Since its inception, BOLD has provided grants to 42 genebank partners in 30 countries around the world, enabling them to regenerate, clean and process seeds of staple and opportunity crops for long-term conservation. Many of these institutions are local nonprofit or university genebanks that house unique diversity that has most likely been missing from national and international genebanks. With 23 partners from 15 countries, Africa is home to the largest number of BOLD partners.

BOLD partners in Svalbard for this week’s deposit hail from Armenia, Brazil, Nigeria, Malawi, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Philippines, Suriname and Zimbabwe. 

“The Seed Vault is about our world’s food security. It is fantastic to be here to receive new seeds to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, also from several new depositors and countries,” said Norwegian State Secretary Ms. Hanne-Berit Brekken. “I am glad that Norway — through its support of this facility — helps to ensure that generations to come can make use of our plant heritage.”

The Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food is the legal and administrative body of the Seed Vault and has the overall responsibility for its management, security and funding. The Ministry has assigned Statsbygg, the key adviser on construction and property to the Norwegian Government to be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Seed Vault. For more information see www.regjeringen.no

NordGen is the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources. As the operational manager of the Seed Vault, NordGen is responsible for handling the seeds inside the Seed Vault; communicating with genebanks; and maintaining a publicly accessible online database with information on the seed samples stored in the Seed Vault (seedvault.nordgen.org). Read more about NordGen at www.nordgen.org

The Crop Trust is an international organization working to conserve crop diversity and thus protect global food and nutrition security. At the core of Crop Trust is an endowment fund dedicated to providing guaranteed long-term financial support to key genebanks worldwide. The Crop Trust supports the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and coordinates large-scale projects worldwide to secure crop diversity and make it available for use, globally forever and for the benefit of everyone. The Crop Trust is recognized as an essential element of the funding strategy of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Learn more at www.croptrust.org

BOLD (Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods, and Development) is a 10-year project to strengthen food and nutrition security worldwide by supporting the conservation and use of crop diversity. Led by the Crop Trust, in partnership with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, the BOLD Project is funded by the Norwegian Government and builds upon the work and achievements of the decade-long Crop Wild Relatives Project (2011-2021). Learn more at https://bold.croptrust.org

Website: http://www.croptrust.org

Published: February 25, 2025