The future of some of Africa’s most beloved staple crops, including important legumes was sealed during the Africa Food Systems Summit week in Dar es Salaam, following the signing of a Long-term Partnership Agreement between the Crop Trust and IITA–CGIAR.
Through this landmark partnership, the Crop Trust commits to providing a guaranteed source of funding for IITA’s genebank, the Genetic Resources Center, in perpetuity. The funding will cover the essential operations needed for the conservation and distribution of over 36,000 varieties of key sub-Saharan African food crops, such as maize, Bambara groundnut and African yam bean, including the world’s largest collection of cowpea.
Over 70% of the collection originates from 40 African countries, with the rest hailing from various other corners of the globe.