Annual Report 2014
“The Crop Trust is an international organization working to safeguard crop diversity, forever.” Marie Haga
Executive Director of the Crop Trust
Key figures
Crop varieties added + 38K
Crop varieties distributed 124K
Grants provided for conservation USD 25,1M
Contributions + USD 3,7M
Varieties available 548K
New varieties in Genesys + 430K
Grants Provided for CollectingUSD 546K
Countries receiving samples 112
Letters
What we do
The Crop Trust
Securing our food, forever
Financials
Credits
Crop Trust
Securing our food, forever
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7The Crop Trust is fortunate to have support from across the world all dedicated to the future of food security, agriculture and biodiversity.
The Crop Trust would like to thank the following people for their support for this year’s annual report: Ambassador Walter Fust, Professor Gebisa Ejeta, The Crop Trust Staff, The Genebank Managers of the CGIAR, Neil Palmer, Paul Cox, Epic Agency.
53113 Bonn, Germany www.croptrust.org
Highlights of the year
- Cover page
- Key figures
- Letters
- What we do
- The Crop Trust
- Securing our food, forever
- Financials
- Credits
Topics
What we do
Global Genebank Partnership
In 2014, the Crop Trust provided $2.49 million through its endowment-funded long-term grants to support the management of 20 crop collections and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. The grants were complemented with a further $17.5 million from the CGIAR Fund. Through its leadership role of the CGIAR Research Program (CRP) on Genebanks, the Crop Trust oversaw all of this funding to the CGIAR genebanks for the management of the 1.32 million samples of seeds, tissue and living crops in their care.
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“Much more than just providing funds, the Crop Trust has introduced online reporting, performance targets and external review processes to create a clear and current picture of the state of this global backbone of conservation.”
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In 2014 work turned to a new idea: the formulation of a quality management system (QMS) specifically for the genebanks. Managers know that a genebank isn’t quite like any other facility – it’s not a farm, or a laboratory, or a museum, though it shares features of all of these. While two genebanks have already achieved the internationally esteemed ISO certification or accreditation, a customized QMS designed by genebank managers, for genebank managers, will go much farther in building an all-encompassing mechanism for improving efficiency and quality, managing risk and sharing best practices relevant specifically to genebank operations.
What defines “quality” in a genebank?
This is the kind of big question that needs to be deliberated well, and it was one of the important topics on the table at the Annual Genebanks Meeting, held in 2014 in Arusha, Tanzania.
The annual gathering brought the managers of the CGIAR genebanks together with their counterparts from Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya and the regional genebank of Southern Africa. The quality management system was one of many discussions held on technical issues and advances in the genebank world. The Crop Trust’s quality expert, Janny van Beem, outlined a proposal for a quality management framework and a plan for implementation. The group agreed the minimum components of the QMS for all to adopt. Work will start in earnest in 2015.
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The external reviews, so far conducted at eight genebanks, have led to action. With special support from the Crop Trust, CIAT launched an initiative to plant seeds from more than 3,000 of the genebank’s bean and forage accessions, replenishing seed numbers so these will be ready for quick distribution to users and for safety backup – including in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
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Meanwhile, CIMMYT undertook the challenge of regenerating seed from a collection of maize landraces from the Andes Mountains. This unique material had been a longstanding concern because it was so well adapted to high altitudes that it would not grow in the usual field stations in Mexico, and the seeds were in danger of expiring without being regenerated. Following the launching of an action plan funded by the CRP, CIMMYT began a project to establish a new nursery at nearly 2,700 meters in Mexico for the rescue of this special maize.