“In a rapidly changing world, it’s wonderful to see a renewed commitment from partners to safeguard their resources in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault."
“It doesn’t help to have the most perfect crop collections in the world, if no one knows what they contain. That is why information systems are so important.”
"2016 was one of the most iconic years in the organization’s history to date. I am extremely proud of the strides we made in growing our ever-important network of partners."
"The effects of climate change put crop diversity front and center. Diverse crops enable farmers to provide adequate food and nutrition, not only for their families but for others as well."
"It matters not what continent we live in, nor where our favorite crop comes from – e.g. maize from Mesoamerica, rice from Southeast Asia, wheat from the Fertile Crescent. We all eat. And we all benefit from crop diversity."
"We are deeply grateful for all contributions and pledges of all sizes because they show the continued power of the hope we all share, a hope for a food secure world."
Grants to conserve crop diversity world wide increased in 2016
2015
USD 28.4 Million
2016
USD 32.4 Million
+14%
Credits
Crop Trust
Securing our food, forever
The Crop Trust is fortunate to have support from across the world all dedicated to realizing one common vision: a food secure world.
The Crop Trust would like to thank the following people for their support for this year’s annual report: Ambassador Walter Fust, Mary Ann Sayoc, the Crop Trust Staff, Scriptoria, Epic Agency, In Fine Co/Creative Agency and Getty Images Reportage.
Platz der Vereinten Nationen 7 53113 Bonn, Germany
www.croptrust.org
Crop Trust Information Systems Manager, Matija Obreza, discussed the importance of Genesys, the online portal for plant genetic resources, in a video interview.
A capacity building workshop on collecting was held at MARDI headquarters and brought together participants from Pakistan, Vietnam, Nepal and Malaysia.
The University of Okayama in Japan and Seed Savers Exchange in the United States made the first deposit of 2016 with the deposit of 3,529 new accessions of barley and vegetable crops.
Distributions of hundreds of crop wild relatives were mapped globally to identify areas where they remain under-collected. The results of this “gap-analysis” were published in Nature Plants in March.
The Conference brought together representatives from governments, private organizations and multi-lateral institutions from around the world to make a joint commitment to safeguard crop diversity.
“Safeguarding crop diversity, forever, is indeed a challenge – and a big responsibility - in which we must all partake.” - Her Excellency Ameenah Gurib-Fakim.
The CWR project published its first animated video – highlighting exactly what the wild relatives of our domesticated crops are and why they are so important.
Researchers from CIAT and the Crop Trust looked at the origins of our food crops and quantified the level of interconnectedness of national diets in a study that is the first of its kind.
The first spotlight interview featured author and educator, Simran Sethi, who discussed her latest book, “Bread, Wine and Chocolate: The Slow Loss of Foods We Love.”
Staff attended the UNFCCC NAP Expo in Bonn, where our Executive Director, Marie Haga, discussed crop diversity and its role in mitigating the effects of climate change.
Sophie Chou, from the World Vegetable Center spent 2 weeks at the Crop Trust learning about best data management practices and published the collection's latest passport data on Genesys.
The Crop Trust accompanied our CWR partners in Central America on exploratory field trips where they searched for wild rice, bean, eggplant, potato and sweet potato.
A total of 53 genebank staff joined the Crop Trust in Nairobi, Kenya at ICRAF headquarters for the 2nd GOAL workshop. "We are what we repeatedly do. Quality then is not an act, but a habit."
Chairing the Donor's Council for the first time was the Netherlands' FAO Ambassador, Dr. Hans Hoogeveen who announced further support to the Crop Trust from the Netherlands in the future.
We welcomed the Executive Board to our offices in Bonn. Board Chair, Mr. Walter Fust and member, Mary Ann Sayoc, were both re-nominated at the Donors' Council earlier in the month.
Executive Director, Marie Haga traveled to Wellington, New Zealand where she was pleased to sign a NZD 2M donor agreement with the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Marie then went to Canberra to sign 2 new agreements: an AUD 5M grant to the endowment and a project agreement: “Strengthening Crop Conservation Post Cyclone Winston.”
The Crop Trust and India signed a MoU, inspired by our common objectives to protect crop diversity for the future of agriculture and in support of their new contribution.
The Crop Trust co-sponsored and participated in the 1st International Agro-biodiversity Congress held in New Delhi, India. While in the region, Marie Haga visited our partners at ICRISAT.
Welcome to a short review of the long and exciting year that was 2016. There is so much to talk about this year: new partnerships formed, more seeds collected, key knowledge and technology shared, all with a commitment that is more urgent than ever.
In a year that once again broke global temperature records by a significant margin, we did not feel that we could merely hold steady in our progress towards creating a global system to safeguard the future of our food. The future will not wait for us. Fortunately, we at the Crop Trust were not the only ones who felt this way.
Governments and private-sector donors sense the urgency, too. At our Crop Trust Pledging Conference in April 2016, they got together and paved the way towards doubling the size of the Crop Trust Endowment Fund to USD 300 million. This fund is enabling a conservation effort that is, by necessity, global in scale and endless in duration.
Leaders came to us with enthusiasm this year to learn about the critical role of crop diversity, and to join their voices in support for the global system of conservation. At our Ministerial Luncheon on crop diversity, held in January during the International Green Week in Berlin, senior-level officials representing governments around the world showed how much countries value this irreplaceable resource.
Our scientific partners in crop conservation and research share this enthusiasm – in fact, they are the most powerful source of it. They work with seeds and plants every day and know how big a task, and how absolutely essential a mission, conserving crop diversity is. The Crop Trust collaborated closely with national and international genebanks all year to make the plant genetic material they work with easier to find, access and put to use, and to protect it for generations to come.
The Crop Trust hosted a Ministerial Luncheon in Berlin at Green Week, 15 January 2016.
Photo: Luis Salazar
The German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development pledged an additional EUR 25 Million to the Crop Trust Endowment Fund,14 January 2016.
Photo: Luis Salazar
Pat Mooney, Executive Director of the ETC Group, visited the Crop Trust and gave a lunchtime seminar to staff, expressing his deep commitment to the world of plant genetic resources, 15 March 2016.
Photo: Cierra Martin
The Crop Trust welcomed Mr. Stan Vandersyp from the New Zealand Foreign Affairs and Trade Aid Programme at our offices in Bonn, 29 April 2016.
Photo: Luis Salazar
We on the Executive Board certainly felt the energy this year, and also the heat. We are committed to seeing the Crop Trust move forward and count ourselves fortunate to be part of this critical effort at a time when there is so much happening.
And a lot of great things happened in 2016. Our February Board meeting took us to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to discuss some of the big issues – like the role of scientific research in our work, our continuing relationship with the CGIAR System Organization, and our role in the implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. We were hosted there by our partners at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), stewards of one of the world’s largest collection of forages. Our next meeting, in October, was in familiar surroundings at the Crop Trust Secretariat in Bonn, where we shared a close look at the latest science, partnerships and plans that Crop Trust staff have in the works.
The Donors’ Council also convened in Rome in the run-up to each Board meeting. The first gathering was an opportunity for our donors to prepare for the Pledging Conference, while the second was a chance to take stock of the conference’s outcomes and look ahead to our future strategic directions. At this second meeting, the Council decided that Ms. Mary Ann Sayoc and I should continue to serve on the Executive Board. I am most grateful for the trust that our donor partners are placing in us.
While different in activities, each of the year’s gatherings was animated by the same mix of urgency and hopeful energy. As this Annual Report shows, it was a year to accelerate our work, but also to reflect on why we do it.
Maize in Madagascar is mainly grown in the South and Central-East regions. Pictured here, ears of maize dry in the open air on a small family farm in Madagascar.
Photo: Getty Images Reportage
Women harvest cassava in Zambia. While cassava originated in the rainforests of South America, today more cassava is grown in Africa than on the other continents combined.
Photo: Getty Images Reportage
A farmer attends the fields at the ‘Maname’ Farm, an experimental farm that cultivates different varieties of rice in Ibague, Colombia.
Photo: Getty Images Reportage
Tiny cassava plants in tissue culture in the lab of the Agricultural Genetics Institute in Hanoi. These samples of cassava diversity recently arrived from CIAT’s global cassava collection, 10,000 miles away.
Photo: Getty Images Reportage
Many rice varieties, and their many names, at a shop on Hàng Đầu street in Hanoi. Vietnam is the fifth largest rice producer in the world.
Photo: Getty Images Reportage
Friday Sinkamba holds a cob of orange maize at the Kabwe Research Station in Zambia. Through an international partnership, scientists have introduced orange maize varieties with higher vitamin A content to Zambian farmers.
