News

It might come as a surprise that there are many crops that can’t be conserved in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Aside from today’s star the banana, these include favorites like: cacao, cassava, coffee, potato, sweetpotato,...

Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director

The values of multilateralism have never been so important

As I write, one third of the world’s population is in “lockdown”. Governments are demanding that their citizens stay at home. New...

In the whirlwind of the last several months, the global pandemic COVID-19 has altered the way many of us run our lives as we trade trousers for sweatpants, staff meetings for video conferences guest-starring our pets. And like...

Climate change is reducing potato yields in some important production areas due to more drought, heat, and diseases like late blight and bacterial wilt.

Our partners from the International Potato Center (CIP) are working with the...

Stefan Schmitz | Executive Director

In November 2019, it was my honor to accept the position of Executive Director of the Crop Trust. While new to the role, I am already familiar with much of the Crop Trust’s excellent work, not...

25 February 2020 | Svalbard, Norway

Originally posted here.

UN Secretary-General Mr Antonio Guterres has called for a decade of action and delivery to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030. With just 10 years...

On 25 February 2020, the largest deposit since the Seed Vault's opening in 2008 (in terms of the number of institutions to send seeds at one time) took place in Svalbard as representative from over 30 different genebanks came to...

“I’ve never seen barley looking this great before!” El Kbir Safraoui couldn’t hold back his excitement about the crop growing in his fields. And he had seen a lot of barley in his lifetime of farming in central Morocco.

Safraoui...

“Them Crow Eggs, Bellflowers, Staymans, Limbertwigs, they're all sweet little cuties, but there ain't no apple in this world like a Virginia Beauty.” -- Jim Veteto

Jim Veteto strums a self-penned ode on his guitar, a jar of...

Food of the future was the hot topic at the inaugural Food Forever Solutions Summit earlier this month in Washington, DC. Hosted by Foreign Policy in partnership with the Crop Trust and the Food Forever Initiative, it brought...

Come on, sir; here’s the place: stand still. How fearful

And dizzy ’tis, to cast one’s eyes so low!

The crows and choughs that wing the midway air

Show scarce so gross as beetles: half way down

Hangs one that gathers samphire,...