New FAO Report Checks Up on the Health of Crop Diversity Conservation

25 March 2025

Nobody much likes writing long reports. Or indeed reading them.

But when the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) launches the Third Report on the State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), it’s worth paying attention. This comprehensive document is a vital health check on the systems and partnerships that safeguard the diversity of crops – diversity that underpins global food security. However, it’s much more than that. It’s also a call to action. 

This Third Report shows how far the world has come in the conservation of crop diversity. It highlights that almost 6 million accessions or samples are conserved in medium- and long-term storage at more than 867 national, regional and international genebanks worldwide. By the end of 2022, approximately 41 percent of these samples were safety duplicated, a significant increase from 15 percent in 2014. While this progress is positive, the Third Report also shows there are challenges in regenerating samples, data management, and financial and technical support for genebanks. The key takeaway is – we’ve come a long way from the first such report, but we still have a way to go.

 

 

The Crop Trust is proud to see its work featured throughout the report. For over two decades, the Crop Trust has supported and strengthened the global effort to conserve and use crop diversity, working hand-in-hand with genebanks, researchers, and policymakers. This latest report recognizes those efforts across a range of initiatives.

Take, for example, the Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) Project. In collaboration with the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew and national genebanks all around the world, the Crop Trust led an ambitious global effort to collect and conserve wild cousins of food crops—species that hold genetic traits like heat or drought tolerance, essential for future-proofing agriculture. The project also invested in pre-breeding, ensuring these valuable traits can be used by plant breeders around the world. Collective global action – the CWR Project and numerous other national and international initiatives – has contributed over the years to safeguarding a total of over half a million samples of crop wild relatives in genebanks, according to the Third Report.

Documenting and sharing information is just as crucial as conserving the seeds themselves. That’s why the Crop Trust has played a leading role in training genebank staff in documentation and supporting Genesys, a global online database of the crop diversity conserved in genebanks. GRIN-Global Community Edition, a collaborative software development effort, helps genebanks manage their collections efficiently and share data globally. Our own data and the report both show that these tools are increasingly used around the world, which strengthens the global network of genebanks. 

Of course, seeds need safety nets, and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault – operated in partnership between the Government of Norway,NordGen and the Crop Trust – remains the ultimate back-up for the world’s crop diversity. The Crop Trust has funded the regeneration and safety duplication of seed collections all over the world, ensuring that precious seeds are never lost. The report underscores the results of these efforts.

The Crop Trust has partnered with the Plant Treaty to launch an Emergency Reserve – a rapid-response fund that helps genebanks recover after natural disasters or other crises. The Third Report shows a clear need for such a fund, with almost 400 emergencies outlined, including extreme weather events and civil unrest. And through Genebank Operations and Advanced Learning (GOAL) workshops, the Crop Trust brings together experts to strengthen genebank operations and prepare for future challenges.

The report also highlights the Global Crop Conservation Strategies, led by the Crop Trust, which provide roadmaps for the long-term conservation of key crop genepools. And through its endowment fund, the Crop Trust continues to secure permanent financial support for critical international genebanks, ensuring the future of Article 15 collections under the Plant Treaty.

Categories: For The Press, For Partners, For Policymakers, Food Security, Nutritional Security