United Nations Food Systems Summit 2021 Scientific Group https://sc-fss2021.org/

Food Systems Summit Brief Prepared by Research Partners of the Scientific Group for the Food Systems Summit April 2021

by Stefan Schmitz, Rodrigo Barrios, Hannes Dempewolf, Luigi Guarino, Charlotte Lusty, Janet Muir

The genetic diversity contained in let alone to create opportunities for its use and their wild relatives is the in and for more sustainable foundation of to-morrow's agriculture, agriculture. Much remains to be done, first allowing farmers and professional breeders and foremost: Strengthening the Global to develop the new varieties that System of ex situ conservation; making this agriculture needs to adapt to changing System fit for purpose for hard-to-conserve conditions. The loss of this diversity poses materials; and innovative funding of this a considerable risk to global . System. The conservation of agrobiodiversity in situ (in nature and in agricultural practice) as well as ex situ (in genebanks) is indispensable. However, many genebanks are unable to guarantee the safe conservation of the ma-terial in their care, 1

years, since the advent of agriculture, and the need for it will only grow. The pressures on agriculture will increase in the future. The world population continues to grow, Climate change, biodiversity loss and and to grow richer and more demanding. the food system crisis are among the major The climate is changing and with it the challenges of the 21st century, and they are likelihood of crop failure, including due to closely interrelated. Climate change is the emergence of new pests and diseases. threatening the survival of species and Meeting these challenges will only be affecting crop yields, for example, and the possible if the genetic diversity contained destruction, degradation and in crops and their wild relatives remains fragmentation of ecosystems is available for use. This genetic diversity is accelerating climate change, driving the foundation of tomorrow's agriculture, biodiversity loss and affecting food allowing farmers and professional breeders security. to develop the new crop varieties that Biodiversity loss includes the depletion agriculture needs to adapt to changing of ecosystem diversity, of species diversity conditions. The development of new and of genetic diversity within species. One varieties will be necessary for successful of the strongest drivers of biodiversity loss adaptation to climate change, and thus to is agriculture, for example the conversion secure the world's food supply in the future of forests and peatlands into arable land. (Hawtin, Fowler 2012). However, there is also loss of biodiversity The maintenance of agrobiodiversity in agriculture, for example: in situ, i.e. in nature and in agricultural  Loss of species diversity on practice, remains indispensable and is a agricultural land, both the number of task for protected areas and on-farm crop and livestock species themselves conservation efforts (Vincent et al. 2019). and those of associated biota (e.g. However, given the risks associated with weeds, soil microorganisms, this strategy, a second approach must be pollinators) due to the use of pursued consistently in parallel: the fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides. conservation of agrobiodiversity ex situ in  Loss of genetic diversity genebanks. within crop and livestock species, or genetic erosion, as the result of modern agricultural practices.

In view of the dramatic risk of loss of Agriculture is thus both the culprit and plant genetic diversity in nature and the victim.1 agricultural practice, its rescue before it is This loss of poses a irretrievably lost is imperative. However, ex considerable risk to global food security. situ conservation would make sense from a This is because the genetic diversity of use point of view, even if there were no cultivated plant species, and their wild genetic erosion going on in the field at all. relatives, is the raw material of crop improvement. It has been for thousands of

1 After these introductory remarks on the entire range of agricultural genetic resources, i.e. plant, animal etc., only the partial aspect of plant genetic resources will be pursued in the following. 2

This is because it would be conditions. This facilitates research and tremendously complicated and expensive the generation of reliable information if every time a plant breeder needed new about samples, which, in turn, genetic diversity, new material had to be encourages their use in breeding collected from the wild or from farmers' programmes. fields, often in distant countries. It is true  Genebanks offer a “one-stop” shop. that there are many breeders who Breeders are able to access a large maintain their own working collections of range of diversity, often from many germplasm, for short-term purposes. But different countries, with a single there are clearly considerable efficiencies request. to be gained from collective efforts to build  Well-run genebanks have the facilities, more comprehensive collections for long- administrative systems and experience term use in centralized genebanks at not only to maintain samples but also national, regional and international levels. to distribute them nationally and Such efforts are being made around the internationally. world, usually with the support of  Well-run ex situ collections have governments, and sometimes the reliable and readily available passport, international community. The values of characterization and evaluation data conserving collections of plant genetic on samples, and, increasingly, data at resources in genebanks are diverse and the molecular level. Such data are considerable (Hawtin, Fowler 2012): critical to the ability of users to make  Having invested in collecting plant informed choices about which material from the wild or from farmers’ materials to request, and how to use it. fields – an expensive exercise – the cost  Over time, collections become ever of maintaining it in a genebank is often more valuable as the data on the small by comparison. material in them become more  Samples are available from genebanks comprehensive. Useful comparative throughout the year, unlike plants data can be built up and made available growing in the wild or on farmers’ fields for sets of samples grown across that can generally only be collected in multiple environments. certain periods of the year, such as at  Ex situ collections provide a “safety harvest time. net” – a last resort – that enables locally  Genebanks are generally able to supply adapted varieties and/or specific traits adequate quantities of good quality to be reintroduced into farming seed for research and breeding systems after they have been lost due purposes. It is often difficult to collect to natural or human-induced disasters. adequate numbers of seeds of good quality from plants growing in the wild.  Genebanks are generally able to supply samples that are free from pests and The latest available data suggest that diseases. It is much harder to guarantee there are more than 1,750 genebanks the health of material collected in the worldwide, of which about 130 hold more wild. than 10,000 accessions each (FAO 2010).  Collections maintained in well-run They are located on all continents bar genebanks remain genetically stable Antarctica, though there are relatively few over time, unlike varieties maintained in Africa compared to the rest of the world. by farmers or populations under in situ 3

While it is estimated that about 7.4 million 1. Strengthening the Global System of accessions are maintained globally, it is ex situ conservation probable that at most only between 25 and 2. Making the Global System fit for 30 per cent of these are unique, with the purpose for hard-to-conserve remainder being duplicates held either in materials the same or a different genebank. Clearly, 3. Innovative funding of the Global there is a need for a measure of System rationalization within and among collections (Hawtin, Fowler 2012). 4.1. Towards a stronger Global System While the majority of large collections of ex situ conservation are maintained at the national level, international collections are critically International and national genebanks important because of their size and operate within a worldwide community, or coverage, the availability of information on Global System, that is made up not only of their contents and the ease of obtaining the institutes managing genetic resources samples. Eleven of the CGIAR Centres but also of a Global Plan of Action, various manage germplasm collections on behalf of technical standards, regional and crop the world community under Article 15 of networks and other instruments, all the Plant Treaty and, of these, the underpinned by the policy framework collections maintained by CIMMYT, provided by the Plant Treaty, the ICARDA, ICRISAT and IRRI, each comprises Convention on Biological Diversity, the more than 100,000 accessions. Collectively, International Plant Protection Convention the CGIAR centres maintain more than and the FAO Commission on Genetic 730,000 accessions of 3,000 species from Resources for Food and Agriculture. 500 different genera. National genebanks The Crop Trust works with all parts of managing more than 100,000 samples this community and has a unique role in include those of Brazil, Canada, China, helping to strengthen the Global System so Germany, Japan, India, Russia, South Korea that it may become more effective, and the USA. rationalized and collaborative. There are four main ingredients to strengthening the Global System:  A critical component in making the Unfortunately, many genebanks, Global System work is the availability of especially in the Global South, are unable good quality data. It is only through to guarantee the safety of the material they good data that we know what is are responsible for and valuable collections conserved, where and whether it is may be in jeopardy because their storage alive, and available for use. Genesys, conditions and management are the online portal for accession-level suboptimal. Further, the purpose of data, provides a means for genebanks genebanks is clearly not just to conserve worldwide to share passport and diversity but to create opportunities for characterization data on their plant breeding and more sustainable collections, as part of the Plat Treaty’s agriculture, i.e. for the diversity to be used. Global Information System. For such Much remains to be done. We focus here systems to reach their potential, on three key interventions: genebanks require support to manage and share their data. For that reason,

4

GRIN-Global Community Edition is  Finally, the Global System has been being developed for adoption by any growing and developing over several genebank to help manage their data decades and there is an opportunity and their collections, and to build now for different institutes to specialize linkages with diverse data resources and complement each other more and systems that can enrich data coherently. The Svalbard Global Seed holdings and help promote the use of Vault, just over 10 years old now, has diversity. already proven its worth in providing a  Good quality data is intimately related unique mechanism for genebanks to to good operational practices and deposit accessions for safety back up. quality management. The Crop Trust, More institutions may be able to take with CGIAR, has been developing a up specialist roles on behalf of the genebank quality management system community as a whole, whether it is (QMS) framework. Based on FAO conserving difficult crops and wild genebank standards, the genebank species, cryopreservation, or disease QMS supports the documentation, testing and cleaning for international review, improvement and sharing of germplasm movement. The Crop Trust genebank operations and practices. It would like to expand its work to help provides a supportive tool for training build capacity and partnerships to allow and staff succession and an excellent institutes to specialize and provide vehicle for strengthening risk services for others. management and staff health and safety. Through QMS, new principles, 4.2. Making the Global System fit for protocols and research findings can be purpose for hard-to-conserve materials: introduced into genebanks and spread Cryopreservation among the Global System as a whole. The vast majority of crops have so-  Armed with new data management called orthodox seeds, which can be tools and QMS, the Crop Trust has conserved relatively easily in cold stores if introduced new ways of building adequately dried. However, there are also capacity through Genebank Operations other important crop – like , and Advance Learning (GOAL) , cacao and coffee – that are workshops, QMS Intensives, Genetic propagated vegetatively, do not produce Resources on the Web (GROW) seeds or have seeds that are not orthodox. webinars, and communities of practice, Their ex situ conservation is therefore not each tailored for different levels of possible by the typical drying and storage learning. The Crop Trust has also of seeds at −18 °C. Instead, these crops are introduced performance targets to usually conserved in field genebanks or in complement the FAO genebank vitro, i.e. in tissue culture. Both of these standards, monitoring tools, audits and require constant vigilance and are labor- reviews, which are key to managing its and cost-intensive. Furthermore, as long-term grants but which can also growing plants or plantlets, they are apply to any genebank with an exposed to greater risks from ambition to reach high standards of contamination and disease and safety operation and fully participate in the duplication is also a major challenge. These Global System. factors all make collections of such crops particularly challenging to safeguard, 5 especially when access to them is Treaty to engage national partners and significantly reduced, e.g. because of social cryopreservation experts to collaborate on distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic. a global initiative to secure this diversity in Cryopreservation is the optimal long-term conservation. Through setting method to maintain genetic resources of up regional specialist hubs, CGIAR and such crops safely in the long-term. It is a partners hope to offer capacity building process whereby organic material is and backstopping to support national conserved by cooling to very low programs bringing their own collections temperatures, typically −196 °C using liquid into cryopreservation and safety nitrogen. It is a form of conservation that is duplicating them. technically challenging and requires high up-front investment. However, it is the 4.3. Innovative funding for the Global most effective, long-term complement to System of ex situ conservation the labor-intensive methods of conservation in field genebanks and in The Crop Trust was founded in 2004 vitro. and is recognized as an essential element Unfortunately, while there are of the funding strategy of the Plant Treaty. abundant studies on how to cryopreserve It provides sustainable, long-term funding plant genetic resources, only a handful of for a rational, effective and efficient Global institutes have succeeded in System that can secure crop diversity cryopreserving collections on a large scale. forever. This is due to the lack of investment in The core activities of the Crop Trust are transforming research into routine funded through sustainable investment application. Protocols need to be highly income generated from an endowment refined to work on the range of diversity in fund. To strengthen the Global System of global collections and adequately tested to ex situ conservation as described above, an ensure that materials going into additional US$500 million need to be raised cryopreservation can come out of it and to achieve its total endowment target of grow into healthy, whole plants. The US$850 million that will ultimately support organization required to build a successful implementation of UN SGD 2 by securing cryo-pipeline is considerable, demanding the world’s crop diversity in perpetuity. both substantial investment and a donor Unrestricted grant contributions to who is not afraid to wait to see good this endowment fund will always be the results. preferred means of funding the global CGIAR genebanks have now system of ex situ conservation. However, established cryopreservation pipelines in due to the slow growth of official Peru, Belgium, Nigeria and Colombia. More development assistance and declining than 4,000 accessions of , cassava grants from governments, it is necessary and potato are maintained in CGIAR and urgent for the Crop Trust to tap cryobanks. The Centre for Pacific Crops and additional sources of funding. Trees (CePaCT) in Fiji is also in the process The Crop Trust is exploring the of setting up a cryopreservation pipeline issuance of a 30-year bond (“Food Security for taro and coconut. However, more than Bond” or “FSB”) to private sector investors, 100,000 accessions are believed to be which would be supported by (1) a conserved in in vitro and field collections Government guarantee that commits the worldwide. Consequently, CGIAR is Government to provide for any shortfall working with the Crop Trust and the Plant upon redemption in Year 30, and (2)

6

Government grants to pay the bond (ESG) issues are now one of the coupon in order to reduce the cost to the forefront attributes of investors and Crop Trust to zero. All bond proceeds the need for them to gain exposure to would be invested in the existing ESG related asset classes. In addition, endowment fund with net investment as investors focus on the returns to be used to fund the conservation implementation of the Sustainable of crop diversity in genebanks. In order for Development Goals, a Crop Trust bond the FSB to be a success, it is absolutely supporting SGD 2 would be highly critical that it has Government support attractive to investors. The Crop Trust is from one or more donor countries. also a signatory to the UN Principles of Overall, the advantages of issuing such Responsible Investment and all a bond, combined with firm support from endowment fund assets are invested in Governments by way of guarantees and line with its responsible investment grants, include the following: policy.   Public/Private Engagement - The FSB Scalability – the bond could be issued in has the potential to engage private a number of traches to raise vital market investors and Government funding not just for the Crop Trust but donors in a combined effort to support for other international organizations the Global System and the conservation implementing SDG 2. of crop diversity in perpetuity.  Risk – as there is no recourse to donor  The rating of the Issuer - the higher the contributions within the endowment credit rating the better the pricing in fund, the risk of a shortfall upon terms of the cost of funds. A highly redemption of the bond lies with the rated Government guarantee will mean Governments who have provided the lower coupons to be paid by the Crop guarantee and not with the Crop Trust. Trust.  The market environment - low interest With this funding, the Crop Trust aims rate market environments create the to scale up the endowment fund to provide demand for yield up to and above critical support to national and regional current short-term issuances. Lack of genebanks around the world; continue alternatives to satisfy the needs of a support for routine budgets of the 11 section of investors, particularly CGIAR genebanks; and fund information pension funds and insurance systems development, the Svalbard Global companies create a demand profile for Seed Vault and the Crop Trust Secretariat long/ultra-long maturity bonds. with the aim of securing the foundation of  The guarantee provided by global food security. Governments - enhanced bond profile In addition, discussions are underway by a guarantee provides a layer of with the Secretariat of the Plant Treaty to comfort for the investor and provides explore if a share of the annual income an attractive proposition to the market earned from this additional funding could on behalf of the issuer, resulting in be made available to the Plant Treaty for potential demand enhancement. For complementary activities to safeguard no money upfront, Governments can crop diversity in the field and in the wild. help unlock substantial private capital for food security.  The profile of the Issuer - Environmental, social and governance 7

FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (2010). The Second Report on The State of the World’s Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Rome

Hawtin, G., Fowler, C. (2012). The Global Crop Diversity Trust. An Essential Element of the Treaty's Funding Strategy. In Christine Frison, Francisco Lopez, Jose Esquinas-Alcazar (eds.): Plant Genetic Resources and Food Security: Stakeholder Perspectives on the on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources. 2012

Vincent, H., Amri, A., Castañeda-Álvarez, N. P., Dempewolf, H., Dulloo, E., Guarino, L., Hole, D., Mba, C., Toledo, A. und Maxted, N. (2019). Modeling of species iden- tifies areas globally for in situ conservation. Communications Biology 2 (1), 136–143.

8

Food Systems Summit Briefs are prepared by researchers of Partners of the Scientific Group for the United Nations Food Systems Summit. They are made available under the responsibility of the authors. The views presented may not be attributed to the Scientific Group or to the partner organisations with which the authors are affiliated.

The authors are: Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director, The Global Crop Diversity Trust Rodrigo Barrios, Strategic Partnership Manager, The Global Crop Diversity Trust Hannes Dempewolf, Director of External Affairs & Senior Scientist, The Global Crop Diversity Trust Luigi Guarino, Director of Science, The Global Crop Diversity Trust Charlotte Lusty, Head of Programmes, The Global Crop Diversity Trust Janet Muir, Director of Finance, The Global Crop Diversity Trust

For further information about the Scientific Group, visit https://sc-fss2021.org or contact [email protected] @sc_fss2021