Celebrating A Year of Achievements
2024 Annual Report
Genebanks are more crucial than ever. They are the foundation for resilient food systems.
Read full message
The year 2024 marked a significant milestone for the Crop Trust – our 20th anniversary as the world’s only global organization solely dedicated to supporting the conservation of crop diversity in genebanks. Thanks to the support of our donors, partners and staff, we have made remarkable strides over the past two decades in safeguarding global food security. Yet, our mission is far from complete.
As the climate changes and environmental pressures grow, genebanks are more crucial than ever. They are the foundation for resilient food systems. These repositories of crop diversity are vital to ensuring the world’s growing population can be fed on a warming planet. The Crop Trust works closely with genebanks to protect crop diversity, enabling breeders and researchers to develop resilient crop varieties that can withstand heat, drought, pests and diseases – challenges that are becoming increasingly severe.
In our anniversary year, we were particularly proud to see two of the Crop Trust’s most influential pioneers receive well-deserved recognition for their contributions. In October, the World Food Prize Foundation honored Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler with the 2024 World Food Prize for their exceptional leadership in safeguarding the world’s crop diversity.
As the first two Executive Directors of the Crop Trust, Geoff and Cary have been leading figures in crop diversity conservation for decades. They played instrumental roles in establishing the Crop Trust and establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the world’s ultimate backup facility for crop diversity. Their dedication and vision have left an indelible mark on global food security. We were also honored to welcome Geoff back to the Crop Trust in 2024 as a member of the Executive Board alongside new appointees Dr. Josette Lewis, Mr. Juan Lucas Restrepo and Mr. Kaved Zahedi.
In 2024, we also made remarkable progress in securing the financial sustainability of our mission. The Endowment Fund grew from USD 305 million to USD 357 million. This sustainable financing mechanism ensures that crop diversity is protected for future generations and relies on the far-sighted generosity of donors to support the essential work of key genebanks worldwide.
We are deeply grateful for significant new funding received in 2024, including from the Governments of Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, Norway and Ireland, along with Groupe Limagrain and others. We also deeply appreciate Dr. Fowler and Dr. Hawtin’s contributions to the Endowment Fund from their World Food Prize award, which further cements their legacy with the Crop Trust.
The new contributions to the Endowment Fund allowed us to expand our long-term support togenebanks. Following an external review of its genebank, one of our CGIAR partners,AfricaRice became eligible for a Long-term Grant Agreement to support its genebank’s essential operations.
We congratulate AfricaRice and all recipients of long-term support from the Endowment Fund for their dedication to preserving crop diversity forever, for the benefit of future generations. We must also recognize outstanding work by our project partners in 2024, which strengthened the global network of genebanks.
As we reflect on 20 years of the Crop Trust, and map the road ahead, we extend our deep gratitude to everyone who contributes to the conservation of crop diversity. Your commitment, whether through financial support, advocacy, research or work with the genebank community, is essential to achieving our shared goal, a world free from hunger and malnutrition.
Many thanks,
Catherine Bertini
Chair of the Executive Board
Crop Trust
Together, through crop diversity, we can build a world where no one needs to go to bed hungry.
Read full message
Tonight, as I write this, 735 million people went to bed hungry. They will do so again tomorrow night, and the night after that. More suffer from malnutrition, straining both communities and economies. Our task is clear. We must grow more food and make it better.
How to do so took center stage at the 2024 conferences for the UN Rio Conventions, where the urgency of securing our global food future was underscored. Biodiversity loss, climate change and desertification threaten our ability to feed the world. But the good news is there is a solution – conserving and using crop diversity to develop more resilient and nutritious food systems.
In 2024, the Crop Trust built on the momentum of the first-ever Crop Diversity Summit, highlighting the need for food system transformation with crop diversity at its core. We championed collaboration and called for increased funding. Our partners and donors answered the call.
Thanks to this collective effort, we expanded our Endowment Fund, ensuring stable, long-term funding for key international genebanks. We also strengthened the global network of genebanks by enhancing data management systems and increasing the number of crop samples available through our Genesys platform and safety duplicated in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Our projects also advanced in 2024. Seeds for Resilience supported national genebanks in Africa by implementing tailored action plans. The Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) project deepened its work with genebanks, explored ways to make more crop diversity accessible to farmers and explored how genebank can work with seed systems. BOLD partners deposited seeds in the Svalbard and there was increased focus on opportunity crops. The BOLDER initiative of BOLD identified underutilized crops that can potentially open economic and nutritional opportunities for Africa. We also launched the Power of Diversity Funding Facility to further unlock the potential of opportunity crops.
The Crop Trust took the opportunity of our 20th anniversary in 2024 to actively engage in global dialogues. Key moments included hosting a Crop Diversity Day in Rabat, launching the African Vegetable Biodiversity Rescue Plan with the World Vegetable Center at the 2024 Africa Food Systems Summit, and engaging around the Rio Convention conferences convened by the UN. Every event reinforced a fundamental truth we have championed for two decades – crop diversity is food security.
The year concluded with two landmark celebrations. In October, our first two Executive Directors, Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin and Dr. Cary Fowler, were honored as the 2024 World Food Prize Laureates at the Borlaug Dialogue. Then, in November, we celebrated our 20th anniversary with many friends at Villa Hammerschmidt near our headquarters in Bonn. These occasions remind us that with visionary leadership and the unwavering support of donors, partners and staff, the Crop Trust is moving us ever closer to securing the future of food.
I invite you to explore this report, reflect on our achievements in 2024, and join the global genebank partnership. Because together, through crop diversity, we can build a world where no one needs to go to bed hungry.
Sincerely,
Stefan Schmitz
Executive Director
Crop Trust
The Year In Numbers
CROP DIVERSITY CONSERVED
CROP DIVERSITY SAFELY BACKED UP
CROP DIVERSITY DOCUMENTED
CROP DIVERSITY USED
CROP DIVERSITY HIGHLIGHTED
CROP DIVERSITY FINANCIALLY SECURED
Highlights of the Year
January
Crop Conservation Strategies Showcased
A year-long communications campaign highlighted the research and recommendations behind the Global Crop Conservation Strategies.
February
Svalbard Global Seed Vault Celebrates 15th Year
The Seed Vault welcomed new deposits and launched a virtual tour.
March
Chill Solution for Meeting Future Demand of Sweetpotato
The Crop Trust, together with experts from Zambia, Madagascar and CIP, have been testing ‘Clean & Share’, a model for long-term conservation of sweetpotato involving cryopreservation.
April
Long-term Support For Beans and Forages
A new Long-term Partnership Agreement was signed between the Crop Trust and The Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT.
May
How Genebanks are Helping to Build a Resilient Food System
The Crop Trust is working with five national genebanks across Africa to enhance their daily operations, including plant health management.
June
New BOLD Project Website Launched
Visitors can now explore and stay up to date with the BOLD Project on a new website.
July
African Genebanks Build a Community
The Seeds for Resilience project enhances African genebanks through partnership and knowledge sharing.
August
Connecting for Better Outcomes for Farmers
Seed systems are critical to ensuring that the right crop diversity reaches and stays in farmers’ fields.
September
Long-term Support For Sub-Saharan Africa’s Crop Diversity
Crop Trust and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) signed a Long-term Partnership Agreement.
October
Ghana Genebank Becomes the 100th Depositor
The historical deposit from CSIR-PGRRI included maize, rice, eggplant and cowpea varieties.
November
The First Global Crop Diversity Summit Hosted in Berlin
Experts gathered with a focus on empowering seedbanks to combat the climate, biodiversity and food crises.
December
Crop Trust Dares to Be BOLDER with Initiative in Africa
By providing farmers with more options through the increased use of opportunity crops, BOLDER contributes to the Adapted Crops and Soils (VACS) initiative.
