Over 3,000 traditional African vegetable seeds secured in global repository, Norway

By Benson Ltamely

African farmers can now rest assured of a continuous supply of seeds for opportunity crops like amaranth, jute mallow, Bambara groundnut, African eggplant, okra and other traditional African vegetables after Africa’s Vegetable Genebank safely deposited largest ever seed consignment at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, the global repository in Norway.

The consignment which included over 3,000 different seed samples that represent 109 crop species collected from over 30 African countries, among them Kenya, Madagascar, Mali and Senegal, will ensure that many of Africa’s nutritious and delicious “opportunity crops” are safely conserved in the Arctic repository.

Although many of these vegetables have disappeared from farmers’ fields after largely being displaced by imported staples, they are increasingly recognised for their potential to diversify diets, strengthen local economies and build resilience to climate change.

While witnessing the entry of the seeds into the Vault in Svalbard, Norway, 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, praised the move as a demonstration of Africa’s Vegetable Genebank’s commitment to preserving Africa’s vegetable heritage.

“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.

Hosted and managed by WorldVeg in Arusha, Tanzania, with support from 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), Africa’s Vegetable Genebank houses the largest and most diverse collection of traditional African vegetables on the continent.

Its seed deposit at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault means that over half of its 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.

Professor Mary Abukutsa-Onyango, a long-term WorldVeg partner who is also a leading advocate for the conservation and use of traditional African vegetables and a joint laureate of the 2025 Africa Food Prize for her pioneering work on these crops, hailed the transfer of the seeds to the Arctic repository as able to protect Africa’s nutrition and biodiversity for generations to come.

“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,” she observed.

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.