The CGIAR Genebank Accelerator strengthens the global genebank system in conserving and making available a wide variety of plant genetic resources vital for the development of climate-adapted crops and resilient food systems.
Food systems have become overly dependent on a handful of crop species. This, and the loss of biodiversity, makes agriculture less resilient and nutritional security more precarious. CGIAR’s 11 genebanks help address this by conserving, managing and distributing crop and plant diversity for a wide range of uses.
Located in diversity hotspots on five continents, the genebanks hold over 700,000 accessions (seeds, tissue culture, tubers, cryopreserved samples, trees and plants) of 3,000 species. The collections include traditional varieties, wild species and other materials that are hard or impossible to obtain from other sources.
The plant material in genebanks gives options to breeders, researchers and farmers who are working to ensure nutritious food is available in a changing climate. Samples are freely available under the terms of the International Plant Treaty. In 2023 alone, CGIAR genebanks distributed over 200,000 samples to users around the world.
CGIAR genebanks are funded by contributions to the CGIAR Trust Fund and the Crop Trust Endowment Fund.
Key areas of work include:
Biodiversity Conservation: We conserve a highly diverse collection of germplasm, assuring genetic integrity, quality, health and longevity of plant materials preserved as seeds in long-term storage, as in vitro plants, cryopreserved or in field genebanks, while making samples and data available to requesters worldwide. All CGIAR Genebanks follow international standards assuring efficient long-term conservation, availability and data management at the highest levels of quality.
Strategic User Engagement: We proactively engage diverse user groups to increase awareness and use of genebank resources, develop AI-enabled tools for more time-efficient and precise accession selection, and enhance digital infrastructure for seamless access to genetic resources.
Genetic Resources Policy: We influence and contribute to international policy on genetic resources conservation, access and use, including access and benefit-sharing policies, digital sequence information (DSI), farmer’s rights, representing the CGIAR in international forums such as the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT-PGRFA). We also support national partners in policy development and implementation and help scientists across CGIAR science programs and accelerators comply with evolving standards.
Germplasm Health: We ensure phytosanitary compliance for safe global germplasm exchange, develop innovative diagnostic and disease management protocols, and strengthen international collaborations for biosecurity and health testing, interacting directly with National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPOs) across countries, engaging on development and implementation of best practices on phytosanitation.
Strengthening Capacity for In Situ and Ex Situ Conservation: We enhance plant diversity conservation by strengthening the global community of genebanks, phytosanitary agencies and the underlying policy environment through the promotion of hands-on capacity building, and regional networks and communities of practice (CoP), such as the Latin American CoP on Genebanks, or the Cryo Network for Latin America, and the Seed Quality Management training.
