Biodiversity loss, climate change, and food insecurity are daunting, interconnected challenges that can seem insurmountable. As record-breaking temperatures persist and climate change escalates, the myriad solutions proposed often appear overly complex and expensive. Yet there is a deceptively simple but powerful solution that addresses all these problems: seeds.
Seeds contain the genes that make wheat different from mango, wild potatoes different from cultivated ones, and plum-shaped San Marzano tomatoes different from beefsteak-shaped Brandywine. They encapsulate crop diversity.
With an eye to the future, we can use crop diversity to adapt agriculture to meet the challenges of the climate crisis and prevent a doomsday future. Crop diversity provides a menu of options, allowing farmers to switch to more drought-resistant crops, to feed cows fodder that causes them to emit less methane, and adopt more sustainable practices. It allows plant breeders to come up with modern varieties, and researchers to study how they work.
About the authors
Geoffrey Hawtin OBE
Geoffrey Hawtin OBE is an agricultural scientist and manager with extensive experience in agrobiodiversity, plant genetic resources, plant breeding, and research management. He currently serves on the executive board of the Crop Trust. Alongside Cary Fowler, he is the 2024 World Food Prize laureate.
Stefan Schmitz
Stefan Schmitz is a German geoscientist and an advocate for crop diversity and food security. For many years, he has led initiatives in food security, agriculture, and rural development within the German federal administration and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. In 2020, he became the executive director of the Crop Trust.
