Guardian feature: Kenyan seedbanks offer lifeline to farmers
Unlocking the potential of national genebanks
I’m honoured to be in The Guardian today speaking on the huge potential of national genebanks like KALRO-GeRRI for rapidly improving local resilience and nutritional security.
“National gene banks can be overshadowed by the larger international ones, but they are best positioned to quickly improve local resilience and nutrition because their collections are adapted to local needs and growing conditions.” Matthew Heaton, Project Manager for Crop Trust’s Seeds for Resilience programme
National genebanks are well-placed to rapidly leverage crop diversity to support farmers in challenging times - yet somehow they seem to have been overlooked, rarely appearing in resilience and adaptation plans.
I say ‘rapidly’ as there’s no waiting for these innovations to be developed and tailored to local preferences - farmers can access this diversity now. These institutes offer a toolkit of varieties that support the diverse needs of farmers and consumers. All we need to do is support genebanks to connect these collections with users.
Fantastic to see this recognition of the important work of the team at the Genetic Resources Research Institute of Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO). Desterio Ondieki Nyamongo, Peterson Wambugu, Joseph Ndungu and others are doing a fantastic job of not only conserving important varieties that otherwise would be lost, but working hard to ensure these varieties offer solutions in farmers’ fields - we’re not just aiming to build museums.
And we know this making a difference in the field thanks to recent impact evaluation work with 500 farmers across Western Kenya led by Tobias Recha and Nelissa Jamora (findings to be shared in the near future).
All of this work was made possible thanks to the support by Crop Trust on the Seeds for Resilience project - and many hours from Nora P. Castañeda-Álvarez, Eva Weltzien and Fred Rattunde.
Thank you to the incredible force of nature that is Caroline Kimeu for helping us tell this story so elegantly and to Luis Salazar for connecting us.
All this past week at the World Food Prize winners Cary Fowler and Geoff Hawtin stressed the importance of crop diversity for equitable, resilient and nutritious food systems. The work of GeRRI-KALRO shows how national genebanks can be a key strategic player in this mission.