(19 June 2009) As temperatures rise across Africa and threaten to scorch local varieties of maize and other staples, the food security of many Africans will depend on farmers gaining access to climatically suitable varieties now being cultivated in other African nations. “We have seen in recent years substantial progress in conserving and sharing plant genetic resources, but the problems we are facing with climate change demand a much stronger commitment to international collaboration,” says Cary Fowler, Executive Director at the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
Please read the press release

(15 June 2009) The Trust's 2008 Annual Report has been published. We would like to thank our donors who made all the achievements of 2008 possible.

Please download the Trust's 2008 Annual Report

(15 June 2009) The 2009 World Food Prize will be awarded to Dr. Gebisa Ejeta of Ethiopia, whose sorghum hybrids, resistant to drought and the devastating Striga weed, have dramatically increased the production and availability of one of the world’s five principal grains, and enhanced the food supply of hundreds of millions of people in sub-Saharan Africa.
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(14 June 2009) Crop scientists fear the Ug99 fungus could wipe out more than 80% of worldwide wheat crops as it spreads from eastern Africa. It has already jumped the Red Sea and traveled as far as Iran. Experts say it is poised to enter the breadbasket of northern India and Pakistan, and the wind will inevitably carry it to Russia, China and even North America -- if it doesn't hitch a ride with people first.
read more from the Los Angeles Times

(9 June 2009) Meeting last week in Tunisia, the 121-country Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture “commended the Global Crop Diversity Trust for its excellent programmatic performance,” adding that the Trust has made a “substantial contribution to attaining the goals of the Treaty.”

Countries formally “welcomed and supported” the Trust's scientific strategy aimed at developing a global system to conserve crop diversity sustainably and “highlighted the need to maintain and develop the relationship between the Treaty and the Global Crop Diversity Trust in a complementary manner.”

Approximately 350 participants representing Contracting Parties and and non-Party governments, as well as international, non-governmental and farmer organizations gathered outside Tunis for the week-long conclave. The meeting focused on procedures and operational mechanisms to promote compliance and address issues of non-compliance; implementation of the funding strategy; the business plan of the Governing Body; and the relationship between the Governing Body and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

The Trust was represented by Margaret Catley-Carlson (chair of the Board), Cary Fowler, Godfrey Mwila and Gerald Moore.

The Trust looks forward to working closely with the Governing Body in the future. Their next meeting will be in Indonesia in 2011.
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(9 June 2009) USAID will provide $7m to the Global Crop Diversity Trust in 2009, as part of its ongoing support for the Trust. Rob Bertram, an agricultural expert at USAID, said the goal of their support is “to make sure the world’s seed heritage is conserved for future generations—especially those in developing countries and regions.”
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(4 June 2009) "The genetic diversity found in genebanks today may become the most important resource we have in shaping an effective response to climate change”, according to Minister Afioga Taua Tavaga Kitiona Seuala, Samoa’s Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries. Accordingly, the Global Crop Diversity Trust this week entered into a long-term grant agreement with the Secretariat of the Pacific Community to ensure 'in perpetuity' funding of the collections of yam and edible aroids, vital crops for food security in the region. The agreement came in effect as SPC signed the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources in Tunis.
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(2 June 2009) The Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture announces that projects in 11 developing countries will receive USD 500,000 for on-farm conservation of important food crops. The funds have been made available by the governments of Norway, Italy, Spain and Switzerland and will be dispersed through the benefit-sharing fund of the Treaty, which is designed to support farmers in developing countries in their work to conserve crop varieties. The newly announced projects are highly complementary to the Global Crop Diversity Trust’s own grant making, which similarly serves as an essential part of the Treaty’s funding strategy.
Read more from the FAO Newsroom

(22 May 2009) In celebration and support of World Biodiversity Day, the Global Crop Diversity Trust announces new grant awards that will support scientists to explore the millions of seed samples maintained in 1,500 crop genebanks around the world. "We want to support scientists to probe crop genebanks for natural traits that will allow farm production to stay one step ahead of climate change," says Cary Fowler, Executive Director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust
Please read the Press Release

(30 April 2009) On April 17, the Trust saw the first set of seeds come full circle in our efforts to rescue and secure threatened food crop varieties. 885 accessions of chickpea, grasspea, lentil, bean and wheat have been regenerated by the National Center for Plant Genetic Resources of the Ukraine and deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This deposit is the first of many, as the Trust supports regeneration and safety duplication of about 100,000 accessions.
Click here to read more about regeneration