World Vegetable Center: Now is the Time to Step Up our Support for Conserving Biodiversity
11 March 2026
Daniel Frans van Gilst, Senior Adviser at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), is a long-time supporter of global crop diversity conservation, as well as the Crop Trust’s BOLD project. He recently shared his perspective on why genebanks are crucial for the future of food and how Norway supports their work. We’re pleased to share his call to action here and encourage you to read the full op-ed on the World Vegetable Center website.
When crises hit, crop diversity functions as a kind of biological insurance: improved varieties can be bred to resist heat, pests and diseases, for example. But countries can only draw on the diversity available to them – not on what they wish they had conserved. Without efforts to conserve the widest possible range of crop diversity today, the capacity of agriculture to adapt tomorrow disappears. Once lost, it cannot be recreated. That applies as much to the diversity of staple grains like rice and wheat as it does to vegetables like tomato, pepper, and more.
Hence, securing crop diversity in genebanks is a long‑term preparedness system designed to secure options for future generations in situations we cannot fully predict today.