Longyearbyen, Svalbard, Norway
25 February 2026
Guatemala has taken a historic step in safeguarding its agricultural biodiversity by making its first deposit to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s most secure backup facility for crop diversity. The deposit includes more than 930 seed accessions of crops fundamental to national food systems, notably maize and beans, as well as squash, amaranth and teosinte.
This milestone reflects Guatemala’s commitment to conserving plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and to implementing the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, to which the country has been a Contracting Party since 2006. Guatemala is a centre of origin and diversity for crops such as maize and beans, but its agrobiodiversity faces increasing threats from climate change, land degradation and extreme weather events.
The shipment forms part of the February 2026 deposit cycle at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which includes contributions from several countries and partners worldwide.
A collective effort to safeguard crop diversity
The deposit was coordinated by Guatemala’s national genebank at the Instituto de Ciencia y Tecnología Agrícolas (ICTA), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food (MAGA), the Guatemala Country Office of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the International Treaty and the Global Crop Diversity Trust, among other partners.
Beyond its national and regional importance, the deposit reflects the combined impact of complementary initiatives supported under the framework of the International Treaty and close collaboration among farmers, national institutions and international partners.
Kent Nnadozie, Secretary of the International Treaty, emphasized this integrated approach: “This deposit illustrates the strength of the International Treaty’s multilateral framework in action, bringing together farmers, national genebanks and global partners through complementary mechanisms such as the Emergency Reserve and the Benefit-sharing Fund. By connecting all efforts, the Treaty helps countries respond to urgent challenges while building resilient systems for the long-term conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.”
Emergency response protects Guatemala’s national genebank
The deposit was enabled by an emergency response following a critical situation at ICTA’s national genebank. In 2023, a malfunction in a cold storage facility caused humidity levels to rise beyond acceptable ranges, placing part of the collection at risk. ICTA conserves nearly 4 000 accessions across major crops including maize, beans, rice, sorghum, chili, wheat, tomato, cucurbits, amaranth and teosinte.
With support from FAO Guatemala, ICTA accessed the Emergency Reserve for Germplasm Collections at Risk, a rapid-response mechanism jointly managed by the International Treaty and the Crop Trust. The initiative supported the rehabilitation of storage infrastructure, installation of real-time monitoring systems and regeneration of threatened materials, while enabling the safety duplication of over 930 samples at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
From the Cuchumatanes to the Arctic: community seeds safeguarded
A particularly notable component of the deposit is the inclusion of accessions originating from Indigenous farming communities in the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes, a mountainous region in western Guatemala known for its rich agrobiodiversity and diverse microclimates ranging from 800 to 3 800 metres above sea level.
Around 115 samples come from community seed banks supported by the Asociación de Organizaciones de los Cuchumatanes (ASOCUCH) through a project funded by the International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund under its third funding cycle (BSF-3) that was concluded in 2019. These include 97 maize accessions representing nine local races and 18 bean accessions (Phaseolus vulgaris and Phaseolus coccineus), reflecting the region’s crop diversity.
Under the BSF-3 project, farmers worked with researchers to collect, regenerate and characterize local varieties. In 2018 and 2019, representatives of ASOCUCH’s network of community seed banks publicly delivered these materials to ICTA’s national germplasm bank, strengthening links between community-based and national conservation systems. To date, ASOCUCH has provided 787 accessions to the national collection, including maize, beans and teosinte.
ASOCUCH Director Sergio Alonzo highlighted the significance of the achievement: “We once thought this would never be possible, but we worked hard to include a substantial number of maize and bean accessions critical to local food systems managed by smallholder farmers of the Sierra de los Cuchumatanes in this historic shipment to Svalbard. We hope to continue making further deposits to safeguard our diversity.”
Strengthening partnerships and scaling up impact
Collaboration between ASOCUCH and ICTA continues to expand. In 2025, the organizations formalized their cooperation through an agreement defining shared responsibilities for conservation efforts, and ASOCUCH provided 44 additional maize accessions, including newly collected materials and regenerated varieties with low germination rates.
Building on earlier work under BSF-3, ASOCUCH is now implementing a second phase supported by the International Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF-5), aimed at further strengthening local seed systems and climate resilience across Guatemala and the wider Mesoamerican region – as the project continues to be active in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua.
A milestone for conservation and collaboration
From Indigenous farming communities in the highlands of the Cuchumatanes to secure storage in the Arctic permafrost, Guatemala’s seeds now form part of a global safety net for food and agriculture — safeguarding genetic resources, traditional knowledge and future options for food security and climate resilience.
“Every deposit in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault is a promise to the future. Through the Benefit-sharing Fund, the International Treaty is helping farmers, national institutions and genebanks safeguard crop diversity and secure it for humanity in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This shows how global policy becomes real protection on the ground and the demonstration of benefit-sharing in action: connecting people, science and institutions to strengthen the world’s conservation system for plant genetic resources. Sustaining this progress will depend on continued investment and strong partnerships to ensure that crop diversity remains available for future generations,” said International Treaty Secretary Nnadozie.
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