Our shared global responsibility: Safeguarding crop diversity for future generations

Abstract

The resilience and sustainability of food systems depend on crop diversity. It is used by breeders to produce new and better varieties, and by farmers to respond to new challenges or demands and to spread risk. However, crop diversity can only be used if it has been conserved, can be identified as the solution for a given problem, and is available. As the ways in which crop diversity is used in research and breeding change and expand, the global conservation system for crop diversity must keep pace; it must provide not only the biological materials themselves, but also the relevant information presented in a comprehensive and coherent way—all while ensuring equitable access and benefit sharing. Here we explore the evolving priorities for global efforts to safeguard and make available the diversity of the world’s crops through ex situ genetic resource collections. We suggest that collections held by academic institutions and other holders that are not standard gene banks should be better integrated in global efforts and decision-making to conserve genetic resources. We conclude with key actions that we suggest should be taken to ensure that crop diversity collections of all types are able to fulfill their role to foster more diverse, equitable, resilient, and sustainable food systems globally.