We work…

to ensure the conservation and availability

of crop diversity for food security

worldwide

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World population growth

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• More people: +30% by 2050 vs. today

• Changing consumption patterns: More meat, requiring a multiple of inputs

2.5 4.1 6.1 8.0 9.2

1950 1975 2000 2025 2050

Climate Change4

World Agriculture

• Facing its biggest challenge ever, due to population growth and climate change

• FAO: at least +50% food production required by 2050

• IPCC: -2% agricultural yields per decade, for each +1°C

We have to find a way out

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Agriculture’s Challenge

Feeding more people...

With more nutritious food…

With fewer inputs… On the

same or even less land…

In the midst of climate change…

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International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The Crop Trust is an essential element of the funding mechanism of the ITPGRFA to ensure the long-term conservation and use of

crop diversity for food security worldwide.

In-situ conservation Ex-situ conservation

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Rice

• More tolerant to submergence • More tolerant to droughts• More tolerant to salinity• More tolerant to heat and cold

– Higher yields

• Also: More nutritious

Only possible with crop diversity

Key to Increased Productivity

Better Varieties9

Crop diversity

• 200,000 varieties of rice

• 120,000 varieties of wheat

• 4,000 varieties of potato

• 7,500 varieties of apple

• 3,000 varieties of coconut

All are important because one might have the trait to increase nutritious value, fight disease, adapt to new climates, or produce higher yields

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Loss of diversity

• China: lost 90% of rice varieties since 1950

• Mexico: lost 80% of corn varieties since 1900

• India: lost 90% of rice varieties since 1900

• USA: lost 90% of fruit and vegetable varieties since 1900

• Germany: all apples grown now originate from only 6 varieties

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Interdependence

• No country is self sufficient in crop diversity• The US has only 10% of the crop variety found in the world’s

plant gene banks in its own collections• Soybean does not originate from Brazil, yet Brazil has the

second largest production of soybean in the world• Wheat variety ‘Veery’: bred with genetic resources from 26

countries

Crop Diversity – a true global common good

Collecting Crops in Genebanks

We can’t retrieve what we have lost, but we can protect what we have - and make it available

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The objective…

is a cost-effective, rational, and global system for the conservation of crop diversity

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Picture: Neil Palmer/CIAT

International Collections CGIAR

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Svalbard Global Seed Vault

824 625 varieties stored in the vault

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Information Systems

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Reasons for Optimism

“Big Data”• Sequencing of plants’

DNA, physical characteristics, and passport data

Faster results through shorter breeding processes

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Reasons for Optimism

Crop Wild Relatives• Tough — with traits not found in

domesticated varieties

Broadening the gene pool to search for useful traits

The Endowment FundThe Crop Diversity Fund (CDF)

Endowment today

$170 M

2014

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The Crop Diversity Fund (CDF)

Endowment todayPlanned endowment size by 2018

$170 M

$850 M

2014 2018

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$500 M 2015

2018

UN Sustainable Development Goals

Crop Diversity

to be effectively conserved

and made available by 2018

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Burdensharing

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To date, 14 country donors have pledged the bulk of the endowment funding -- among them:

Australia, Germany, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America.

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Thank you

www.croptrust.org