Bulawayo – Sudan’s diverse crops and agricultural heritage are at risk of being lost. The ongoing conflict in Sudan is advocating for livelihoods and threatening livelihoods and food security.
Amidst the chaos of conflict, scientists like Ali Babikar are fighting to protect Sudan’s future food security, not weapons, not species.
Sudan made important deposits at Svalbad Global Seed Vault, a remote facility buried in the ice Arctic Circle, established to protect the future of agriculture. This is the sixth deposit of Sudan’s seeds and is key to conserving Sudan’s agricultural resources for the future. Seeds sent for storage include sorghum, pearl millet, corn, cowpea, pigeon peas and faba bean seeds. Additionally, vegetable seeds such as tomatoes, pepper, okra, eggplant and melons were also deposited in the safe.
Due to the ongoing war, Sudan lost two farming seasons as farmers were unable to cultivate their land. The country faces acute food and humanitarian crisis that the United Nations describes as a catastrophe of “extraordinary scale and cruelty” that “requires sustained and urgent attention.”
Ali Babikar, director of the Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Research Center in Sudan. Credit: Bold
Save the future of Sudan’s food
Babikar, director of the Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Research Centre (APGRC) in Sudan, oversees the collection and storage of key seeds at the country’s National Gene Bank, located in Wad Medani city in eastern Sudan.
The centre has collected plant genetic resources for food and agriculture for over 40 years, and has gathered cultivated wild relatives of many crops and plant species. But the war destroyed it all.
“It is a huge shock and frustrating thing that war puts collections at risk, which could lead to losing some of the genetic diversity that affects food security, not just the country but also the region.
Thanks to a considerable overlap of germplasms (genetic material) preserved within and outside Sudan, the country is saving agricultural heritage from loss.
“Leaving copies of Sudan’s germplasms at Svalbard Global Seed Vault means we still have no germplasm damage, and we would also like to thank many partners for providing such facilities to protect germplasms and others for free.”
“In general, two years of growth were not practiced,” Babiker told IPS, saying that attempts to secure seeds stored in National Seed Bank were blocked by rapid support forces that refused entry to Gene Bank.
For years, Sudan Jean Bank has maintained an accelerated collection of over 17,000 seeds of staple crops. These are carefully stored in aluminum foil packets in 35 deep chest freezers. Babikar said the collection represents the genetic diversity of Sudan and it was in a significant position when the war reached Wad Medani and Jane Bank facilities were plundered, including a deep chest freezer.
“We have a diverse range of food crops,” said Babikar, who gained an interest in plant diversity while in college and gained the opportunity to work for the country’s Gene Bank. “The people in the Central, East and South Sudan mostly eat sorghum, while the people in the West prefer and depend on pearl millet, while the people in the North eat wheat.”
The United Nations, together with humanitarian partners, is launching a US$6 billion response plan to help approximately 26 million people in Sudan. The conflict for nearly 22 months has left over more than 30 million people across Sudan, in need of assistance and protection. According to the United Nations, almost half of the country’s population suffers from “acute” levels of hunger.
The Battle of Sudan to maintain its agricultural heritage highlights the resilience of people and plants in conflict.
In February 2025, Svalbard Global Seed Vault accepted over 14,000 seed samples from 21 gene banks, including seed samples of Malawi’s so-called “velvet beans” that support both sustainable agriculture and traditional medicine. A key food crop from the Philippine Gene Bank, destroyed by typhoons and fires. and a major collection of over 3,000 rice, beans and corn from Brazil, host of this year’s global climate negotiations.
Gene Banks are strategic depository institutions to maintain species diversity for agricultural safety. Credit:busani bafana/ips
A problematic gene bank
Containing seed collections from many parts of the world, Gene Banks faces many challenges in conserving seeds for the future. The Svalbard Global Seed Vault, pioneered by Cary Fowler and Geoffrey Hawt, came to fruition.
“We have always wanted Svalbad’s Global Seed Vault to be unnecessary. We hope that all seed collections around the world are completely safe and secure, and always in the future,” said Carrie Fowler, former US envoy for the Global Food Security and World Food Awards. “Sadly, this is not the world we live in. We cannot afford to be a cavalier about the biological foundations of agriculture, how we protect crop diversity.”
Fowler emphasized the importance of the Svalbad Global Seed Vault. Vault, for example, helped rescue and recover a major collection once held in Aleppo, Syria, which was caught up in the Civil War Crossfire. Seed Vault has a collection of major global importance, including diversity. This continues to be used by plant breeders and farmers around the world for their heat and drought tolerance properties, as it has not been lost.
“If Seed Vault is an insurance contract that will never be used again, this initial use would justify all the effort and funds that took place in establishing the facility,” Fowler said.
Vault maintains its seed collections from 123 gene banks in 85 countries. In 2023, 51,591 species of seeds were backed up in the vault, increasing to 64,331 accesses last year.
Berivonrim, a project specialist at the Crop Trust, points out that the conflict and the climate crisis is increasing the need for the country to deposit seeds in Svalbad.
“Yes. The war in Sudan is a good example,” Bonlim said. “It has influenced the National Gene Bank of Wad Medani, making it impossible for them to carry out their daily activities. Through the support of the bold project, staff at the Gene Bank APGRC of Sudanese citizens prepared hundreds of seed samples (including sorghum and pearl mibit) transported under security escorts from the city.
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Faced with natural and human risks that threaten the plant’s ability to protect genetic resources for food and agriculture, Bongolim said floods, typhoons, earthquakes, economic challenges and political instability could cause serious damage to the GeneBunk facility, leading to permanent or partial loss of immature reproductive types.
“A key challenge, particularly for Genebanks in developing countries, is inadequate and inconsistent funding. “Many operate with limited financial resources and rely heavily on short-term project-based funding. This financial uncertainty affects our ability to carry out important activities such as seed regeneration, infrastructure maintenance, and staff salaries, ultimately putting our role in maintaining global crop diversity.”
With funding from the Norwegian government, biodiversity of the Opportunity, Livelihood and Development (BOLD) project supported 42 partners in 30 countries and deposited duplicates with the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to regenerate and protect the seed collection.
A 10-year project to enhance food and nutritional security around the world by supporting the conservation and use of crop diversity. In cooperation with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and the International Convention on Plant Genetic Resources of Food and Agriculture, the bold project is funded by the Norwegian government and is based on the work and achievements of the Crop Wild Familiar Project over a decade.
IPS UN Bureau Report
