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On a winding road in the densely forested Kikuyu highlands of south-central Kenya lies a nondescript government building: the Genetic Resources Research Institute. Opened in 1988, during the country’s “green revolution”, this little-known national gene bank was set up to hold and conserve seeds from the traditional crops that were in danger of disappearing as farmers and agricultural industry moved to higher-yield varieties.

For decades, it has collaborated with researchers studying crop genetics and others working to develop improved varieties. But as the climate crisis worsens food insecurity, the repository of about 50,000 seed and crop collections could become a lifeline for farmers.

Desterio Nyamongo, director of the Genetic Resources Research Institute: ‘These are unusual times with climate change’. Photograph: Brian Otieno/The Guardian

“We were established as a conservation unit, but these are unusual times with climate change, so we’ve had to diversify our work to respond to needs,” says Desterio Nyamongo, who runs the institute. “Given the erratic weather these days, smallholder farmers need a diverse mix of crops.”

Through a project with the Crop Trust organisation the gene bank is now playing a part in the comeback of indigenous crops that are resistant to drought and pests, but fell from favour and have been neglected for decades.

It stores backups of its most unique seeds at the Svalbard global seed vault in Norway, where it has been sending collections since 2008. The international repository contains more than a million seed samples from around the world.

Lab technicians test for seed viability at the gene bank. Photograph: Brian Otieno/The Guardian

Matthew Heaton, the project manager for Crop Trust’s Seeds for Resilience programme, says: “National gene banks can be overshadowed by the larger international ones, but they are best positioned to quickly improve local resilience and nutrition because their collections are adapted to local needs and growing conditions.”

The gene banks are not just [seed] museums, but a resource for the future

Matthew Heaton

The national gene bank is a small operation, with few staff and limited funding, and its cold rooms, which plant scientists say contain only a third of the country’s plant diversity, are almost full. The Seeds of Resilience project, launched in 2019, has supported national gene banks in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Zambia with financial and technical support to keep resilient, healthy and nutritious crop collections, and to increase their support for farmers.

At least 28 African countries have national gene banks, according to data from the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). More than 1,300 farmers across Africa who have taken part in the Seeds of Resilience project, which is now in its final year, have adopted nearly 300 varieties introduced by gene banks into their farms, according to Crop Trust.

Ruth Akoropot, in blue, is one of many farmers in her village, pictured here, who have switched to older varieties of sorghum because they are less attractive to birds. Photograph: Tobias Okando Recha

Farmers from the village of Obucuun in rural Busia county, on the border of Kenya and Uganda, say that before sourcing new sorghum varieties from the gene bank, growing the cereal had become challenging. Attacks by flocks of weaver birds, which can ravage entire cereal fields, increased in frequency after the wild grasses preferred by the birds became more scarce as a result of the climate crisis.

Ruth Akoropot, a 50-year-old farmer from the area, spends hours each day watching over her crops during peak hours of attack, after studying the birds’ behaviour patterns for years.

Different coloured heads of sorghum, produced by farmers in Busia, Kenya. Photograph: Courtesy of Crop Trust

“If you don’t do that, your crop will be wiped out,” says Akoropot, who runs the women’s sorghum farmers association, which sells bales of the grain to Kenya’s national beer brewery. “We usually try to plant and harvest at the same time, so that the damage is spread across the farms and doesn’t devastate just one person’s yields.”

Most of Busia’s population rely on farming for food and to make a living, but like many smallholder farmers in Kenya, who are the primary producers of the country’s food, a number remain vulnerable to food insecurity. Flooding in April and May this year swept away farmers’ seeds and yields, exacerbating poor agricultural productivity.

Old improved crop varieties sourced from the gene bank, such as Kenya’s red-headed sorghum okoto, which farmers say is less prone to bird attacks, have become community favourites in Busia after decades of disuse.

“My grandfather used to grow this red variety many years ago. He would pound the sorghum until it was fine and mix it with sweet banana juice, then leave it to ferment overnight. It was such a refreshing drink,” says Akoropot. She says the variety has received rave reviews as a filling addition to the maize-meal staple ugali, including from her grandchildren, who say it makes for flavourful sorghum porridge.

Kenya’s national seed bank holds about 50,000 seed and crop collections. Photograph: Brian Otieno/The Guardian

Tobias Okando Recha, an impact researcher for the Seeds of Resilience programme, says: “These are crops that farmers don’t need to pump a lot of fertiliser on. With just a little fertiliser, the yield is good and they are more [resilient] than hybrid varieties.

“Many farmers did not know about the gene bank until recently, so it is about time that farmers were [made] aware that the government has a repository of all varieties that they need.”

Plant scientists say that while the divide between farmers and seed conservationists is narrowing, more needs to be done.

“Some collections are still seated [in the cold room], so we need to promote them so they can get to farmers,” says Nyamongo, who is pushing for more funding from the government. Starting this year, the gene bank will be working with the FAO to scale up its work with farmers, and though the Seeds of Resilience programme is ending, the Crop Trust will continue supporting the seed libraries.

“The gene banks are not museums, but a resource for the future,” says Heaton. “By linking them with farmers, we can swiftly build local resilience and food security.”

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