Emergency reserve launched to protect “under threat” gene banks for food crops

The Crop Trust and the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (The Plant Treaty) have launched an emergency reserve over the weekend to provide a financial lifeline to gene banks under threat, in an effort to secure future food supplies and crop diversity.

The reserve will provide urgent funding to gene banks in low and middle-income countries to respond swiftly in emergencies spurred by climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic or political instability.

Conventional agriculture accounts for 24% of human-made greenhouse gas emissions and 75% of tropical forest deforestation. Climate-smart approaches, such as preserving gene banks, will go a long way to address these challenges.

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