Norway
February 25, 2025
Amid the ongoing civil conflict, dedicated genebank staff in Sudan, has managed to make an extraordinary effort to save seeds crucial to humanity. With funding from the international community and practical help from seed technicians at NordGen, the Sudan seeds are now placed in Svalbard Global Seed Vault for long-term safekeeping.
Sudan, a country rich in biodiversity and agricultural potential has long been home to numerous crops essential to both local and global food systems, such as sorghum, pearl millet, cowpea, sesame, okra, watermelon and roselle. However, the war-torn nation has struggled with famine, poverty, and significant challenges to its agricultural production. The civil conflict, which escalated in recent months, has posed an urgent threat to the future of Sudan’s agricultural heritage.
"Even before the war, we faced significant challenges, including frequent power outages, lack of fuel for our generator, limited human resources, and inadequate laboratory facilities," said Ali Zakaria, Director of the Genebank at the Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation and Research Centre (APGRC) in Sudan. "However, with the outbreak of the recent conflict, our seed collections have been at immediate risk of destruction."
Important genebank collections
The country’s central seed genebank in Wad Medani, along with field genebanks for banana and date palms in Kassala and River Nile State, store a significant portion of Sudan’s agricultural genetic material. The collections, which date back to 1982, now include over 17,000 seed samples of more than 30 crops like sorghum, pearl millet, wheat and sesame, as well as many other crucial food crops.
In December 2023, the escalating violence saw one of the rebel factions, the Rapid Support Forces, take control of Wad Medani for 13 months, severely disrupting the operations of the APGRC, which manages the country’s genebanks.
"The damage and loss were visible everywhere," recalled El Tahir Ibrahim, the former Director of the APGRC, who was following the situation of the genebank facilities after the rebels had captured the city of Wad Medani, where the APGRC headquarters and central seed genebank are located. "The seed bank’s freezers were looted, along with the computers and servers. Seed packets were even scattered on the ground."
Seeds prepared for shipment from Sudan. Photo: Ali Zakaria Babiker
In response to this, Sudan’s genebank staff made a swift and crucial decision to protect the seeds from further damage. Working tirelessly under difficult circumstances, they coordinated the dispatch of over 2,000 seed samples from 19 different crops from the city of Elobeid, where a subnational seed bank unit is operating under the APGRC. Despite significant obstacles when preparing the inventory list, ensuring seed viability, and navigating legal and logistical hurdles, the seeds were successfully packed and sent on its journey towards Svalbard, via NordGen’s headquarters in Sweden.
“When the seeds arrived here, Sudan’s genebank gave us permission to go through some of the seeds and repack some of them to make sure they would be well-equipped for storage in Svalbard the coming years”, said Johan Axelsson, who is responsible for NordGen’s seed laboratory. “It was a few day’s work for our seed technicians, but an investment well worth its price considering the importance of these seeds for the future of Sudan’s agricultural sector.”
Johan Axelsson, head of NordGen's seed laboratory, with some of the seeds that were sent from Sudan. Top photo shows two of the seed samples that were repacked in the seed lab.
On Tuesday, February 25, 2025, the seeds from Sudan were carried by NordGen staff into the Seed Vault, along with seeds from 19 other genebanks that had chosen to back up their seeds at the Arctic facility at this time. Many of them have managed to do so with support from the so called BOLD project.
“Behind every box of seeds carried into the Seed Vault here today, lies numerous hours of hard work in the genebanks”, said Lise Lykke Steffensen, NordGen’s CEO. “Sudan is not alone in facing immense difficulties in protecting their country’s agricultural heritage and future. The commitment of the genebank staff in both Sudan and in other places demonstrates the importance of international collaboration and perseverance in safeguarding agricultural diversity.”
Archive photo, Lise Lykke Steffensen, NordGen's CEO.
Thousands of miles south, and in an environment about forty degrees warmer than Svalbard, Ali Zakaria is content with the latest deposit from Sudan.
“With this deposit, our genebank now has more than 25% of our entire seed collection safeguarded in Svalbard. That creates an extra level of security for Sudan’s future agriculture—and by extension, an important contribution to global food security”, he said. However, still further efforts in collaboration with the international community are needed to swiftly secure the rest of the Sudanese collection in Svalbard against the possible risks due to conditions such as the current war.
About Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Svalbard Global Seed Vault is the world’s largest backup facility for the crop diversity stored in the world’s genebanks. It is owned by Norway and operated by three partners; the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture and Food, NordGen – the Nordic countries genebank and knowledge centre for genetic resources, and Crop Trust, an international organization working to conserve crop diversity and thus protect global food and nutrition security. Genebanks are offered to store backup copies of their seed samples here free of charge. There is no transfer of legal ownership. The seeds always remain the property of the depositing institute.
About NordGen
NordGen is the Nordic countries genebank and knowledge center for genetic resources. Its mission is to conserve and promote the sustainable use of genetic resources important for Nordic food and agriculture. NordGen is also the operating manager of Svalbard Global Seed Vault.
Topics
Species
