Investing in Genebanks to Protect the Future of Food

9 November 2026

Investing in genebanks is a practical and effective way for governments to protect biodiversity and strengthen food security. These collections safeguard the crop diversity that breeders and farmers need to respond to the challenges impacting  agriculture today and into the future.

In a joint op-ed published by CGIAR during the COP17 UN Biodiversity Conference, Ismahane Elouafi, CGIAR’s Executive Managing Director, and Stefan Schmitz, the Crop Trust’s Executive Director, assert that reliable funding for genebanks should be central to efforts to deliver global biodiversity commitments.

The benefits can be substantial. A wild peanut relative from Bolivia, conserved at ICRISAT, helped breeders develop a variety resistant to damaging fungal diseases. The resulting benefits for farmers in India were estimated at around USD 200 million between 2006 and 2022, illustrating how a single conserved sample can contribute to agricultural progress.

The authors urge governments to include national genebanks in their biodiversity plans and invest in infrastructure, equipment, training and essential operations. Many of these institutions face persistent funding shortages. This op-ed also calls for continued direct support to CGIAR and other genebank collections, sustaining the expertise and innovation that connect conservation with use.

The Crop Trust Endowment Fund complements this support by providing a stable and predictable source of finance for crop diversity conservation. Contributions are invested to generate returns that help sustain crop collections over the long term. This approach gives genebanks more predictable funding, while helping protect the diversity our future food production and adaptation depend on. Together with the CGIAR, we are keeping conservation work going beyond the limits of individual projects and short funding cycles.

Read the full op-ed on the CGIAR website

Category: Genebanks