Letter to the Donors of the CGIAR

10 June 2015

To the Donors of the CGIAR

The Global Crop Diversity Trust has been established by the FAO and the CGIAR to secure and make available crop diversity for global food security and nutrition. Since 2012, through the Genebank CRP, the Crop Trust has oversight over the eleven genebanks of the CGIAR and ascertained stable funding for them.

The CGIAR genebanks are well-recognized, unique and major assets, and they are essential for the CGIAR’s evolving Strategy and Results Framework. The crop collections represent the world’s capital base for the future and underpin much of our agricultural research work in the CGIAR Consortium. They are also called upon by researchers, breeders and farmers in more than 100 countries, developing and developed alike, every year. Present-day opportunities provided by big data and high-throughput technology make the potential of our genebanks all the more poignant.

Investing adequately in agricultural research is fundamental for achieving and sustaining food security and nutrition. Continuing to support our genebanks into the future is a key part of this investment. Without reliable long-term funding, we will lose irreplaceable plant genetic material and vital options for a sustainable future.

We therefore ask donors to recognize the need to support the planned growth of the endowment fund, which is managed by the Crop Trust, to a target level of USD 500 million. Donors are asked to join the Crop Trust Pledging Conference in April 2016 in Washington DC to deliver their firm financing commitments to this goal. The faster the endowment will be paid, the more certain we can all be of safeguarding the history and future of our agriculture across the globe.

THE DIRECTOR GENERALS OF THE CGIAR

with International Collections of Crop Diversity