Africa’s Vegetable Genebank Makes Largest-Ever Deposit of Traditional African Vegetable Seeds in Global Repository

Africa’s Vegetable Genebank has reached a major milestone, depositing its largest ever consignment of traditional African vegetables in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, Wednesday this week. The deposit ensures that many of the continent’s nutritious and delicious “opportunity crops” are now safely conserved in the Arctic repository.

The deposit included over 3,000 different  seed samples, representing 109 crop species collected from over 30 African countries, from Senegal to Kenya, and Mali to Madagascar.

Among them were crops such as amaranth, jute mallow, Bambara groundnut, African eggplant, and okra – vegetables increasingly recognized for their potential to diversify diets, strengthen local economies, and build resilience to climate change. Yet many have disappeared from farmers’ fields, largely displaced by imported staples. Safeguarding traditional African Vegetables like these in genebanks is a key action in the African Union-endorsed African Vegetable Biodiversity Rescue Plan, which promotes their rescue, conservation and use.

“This is much more than a deposit of  seeds; it is a demonstration of our commitment to preserving Africa’s vegetable heritage,” said Dr. Sognigbe N’Danikou, head of Africa’s Vegetable Genebank, and a scientist specializing in the conservation and use of traditional African vegetables at WorldVeg, who was present in Svalbard to see the seeds enter the Vault.

“Each seed carries generations of farmer wisdom, adaptation, and cultural value. Backing them up in Svalbard lays a strong foundation for Africa’s food security and resilience – ensuring we can continue to nourish generations to come,” he said.

Africa’s Vegetable Genebank is hosted and managed by WorldVeg in Arusha, Tanzania. It is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), through the Global Crop Diversity Trust, and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). It houses the largest and most diverse collection of traditional African vegetables on the continent.

The Wednesday’s seed deposit means over half of the genebank’s approximately 10,500 accessions are now safely backed up in the Arctic repository, ensuring they remain secure and recoverable even in the face of climate change, conflict, or natural disaster.

Long-term WorldVeg partner, Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango – a leading advocate for the conservation and use of traditional African vegetables, and joint laureate of the 2025 Africa Food Prize for her pioneering work on these crops, said:

“This is a fantastic moment for Africa’s Vegetable Genebank, and for the many diverse, delicious and nutritious traditional African vegetables it conserves and shares with farmers, schools and scientists. Having Africa’s vegetable diversity safeguarded in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault alongside the world’s major food crops sends a powerful message of hope about the strength of global partnerships to protect Africa’s nutrition and biodiversity for generations to come.”

The seed shipment – which began the approximately 7,000km journey from Tanzania to the Arctic Circle at the end of September – also contains seeds of different kinds of cowpea, pepper, soybean, gourd, common bean, and others.

Strengthening tomorrow’s food systems – today

Importantly, the Svalbard consignment included seeds that Africa’s Vegetable Genebank has already distributed directly to farmers and scientists for use on farms, at schools, and for research in Africa.

It has previously provided thousands of emergency seed kits to displaced farmers in Sudan, as well as researchers and farmers in Uganda, Kenya, Benin, and Somalia. In Eswatini, seed kits sent by the genebank have helped establish vegetable gardens at homes and schools, supporting household nutrition and improved school feeding programs. Amaranth and jute mallow distributed by the genebank as part of citizen science trials for the Crop Trust’s BOLDER project in Tanzania and Benin respectively are helping farmers and breeders identify promising types for crop improvement.

Yesterday’s deposit also included seeds of amaranth in seed kits sent to farmers in Tanzania, Benin, Mali, and Madagascar, and cowpea samples sent to farmers in Tanzania.

“Africa’s Vegetable genebank is part of a living system of innovation, built on collections that are actively used as well as conserved,” said Daniel Frans van Gilst, Senior Agriculture Adviser at Norad. “Its strength lies in both conserving biodiversity and putting it to work – enabling farmers and researchers to plant, study, and improve crops that build more resilient farms, healthier diets, and stronger livelihoods.”

Dr Stefan Schmitz, Executive Director of the Crop Trust said: “This deposit is a powerful reminder of how global cooperation can safeguard the foundations of our food systems. By backing up Africa’s vegetable diversity in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, WorldVeg and its partners are helping to ensure that these invaluable crops — so vital for nutrition, livelihoods and resilience — will be available for generations to come.”

Source : Farmers Review African