Ghana genebank becomes the 100th depositor to Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Ghana joins 15 other institutions, including one other first-time depositor – the Bonn University Botanic Gardens (Germany) – in safeguarding duplicates of their seed collections inside the Vault.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault safeguards over 1.2 million seed samples, making it the world’s largest collection of crop diversity in one single location. For 15 years, the Seed Vault has welcomed genebanks from across the world to conserve copies of their seed diversity. This diversity is needed to adapt agrifood systems to a rapidly changing climate and other environmental challenges.

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‘In this critical time of global food security, securing important crop diversity is more important than ever’, says Geir Pollestad, the Norwegian Minister of Agriculture and Food. ′I would like to welcome all the gene banks that take part in the seed deposit in October 2023. Congratulations to the Plant Genetic Resource Institute of Ghana as the hundredth depositor to Svalbard Global Seed Vault’, says the Norwegian Minister.

The Ghanaian deposit comes from the Plant Genetic Resources Research Institute of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR-PGRRI). It includes key crops for the country's food security, health, and culinary culture. It also holds maize, rice, eggplant, and cowpea varieties.

’This is our very first safety back-up. It provides a sense of relief that our collections of crop diversity are on the path to being secured in perpetuity for the benefit of all humanity. The backup also highlights the hard work of the current and past staff members of the Ghana genebank, and the farmers from whom the seeds were originally collected’, said Daniel Kotey, Senior Research Scientist at CSIR-PGRRI. ’We are very grateful to everyone who contributed to make this happen’, says Kotey. 

October 2023 deposit to Svalbard Global Seed Vault

Seed deposits October 2023
	Country	Accessions	Boxes	crops	Notes
SADC Plant Genetic Resources Centre	Zambia	386	7	9 species, Sorghum, Vigna, maize, etc.	Incl.  ZARI-NPGRC, which will be represented
NRSSL	Thailand	241	3	Rice
CIAT	Colombia	872	4	100 different species, 2/3rds are beans
Crop Research Institute	Czech Republic	515	4	91 species/subsp. Cereals, vegetables, herbs etc.
INIAV	Portugal	458	5	Phaseolus beans, Vigna beans and maize
Seed Savers Exchange	USA	111	1	31 species, mainly vegetables
Agricultural University of Tirana	Albania	760	12	Wheat and maize
USDA	USA	1410	8	113 species/subs., maize, Sorghum, Abelmoschus, Amaranthus, Cucurbita, Vigna etc.
ICRISAT	India	1400	8	Chickpea	Represented
INIA	Uruguay	1570	5	Barley, rice and maize
Botanical Garden, University of Bonn	Germany	12	1	8 species, vegetables	First time depositor, represented
World Agroforestry Centre ICRAF	Kenya	222	1	21 tree species
Gerri	Kenya	2644	2	Sorghum and finger millet
CSIR-PGRRI	Ghana	422	4	Rice, Solanum, Vigna and maize	First time depositor
NACGRAB	Nigeria	650	2	6 species, Sorghum, Vigna, Pennisetum and Abelmoscus	Represented
Totals		11673	67

• Learn more from the Seed Vault official website: www.seedvault.no 

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About the Crop Trust

The Crop Trust is an international organization working to conserve crop diversity and thus protect global food and nutrition security. At the core of Crop Trust is an endowment fund dedicated to providing guaranteed long-term financial support to key genebanks worldwide. The Crop Trust supports the Svalbard Global Seed Vault and coordinates large-scale projects worldwide to secure crop diversity and make it available for use, globally forever and for the benefit of everyone. The Crop Trust is recognized as an essential element of the funding strategy of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

• Learn more at www.croptrust.org.

About NordGen

NordGen is the Nordic countries’ genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources. As the operational manager of the Seed Vault, NordGen is responsible for handling the seeds inside the Seed Vault; communicating with genebanks; and maintaining a publicly accessible online database with information on the seed samples stored in the Seed Vault (seedvault.nordgen.org).

• Read more about Nordgen at www.nordgen.org/en

About the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food

The Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food is the legal and administrative body of the Seed Vault and has the overall responsibility for its management, security and funding. The Ministry has assigned Statsbygg, the key adviser on construction and property to the Norwegian Government to be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the Seed Vault.

• For more information see www.regjeringen.no