Kent Nnadozie

Secretary, International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The humble potato, native to the Andes, is a symbol of our shared agricultural heritage and interdependence. Within a remarkably short time, this crop spread across the globe – to Ireland, Morocco, Germany, Poland, Norway, the Netherlands, India, Australia, Italy, Spain, Nepal, Ghana, South Africa, Iran and beyond. Over 1 billion people consume potatoes regularly, with many relying on them daily. Once confined to the Peruvian highlands, the potato is now a ubiquitous dietary staple on tables across every continent.  

International Potato Day serves as a timely reminder that the future of our food systems depends on protecting and sustainably using the plant genetic diversity that underpins agriculture. The potato, one of the world’s most important crops, is emblematic of the critical role that agrobiodiversity plays in supporting food security, nutrition and resilience as we face climate change, biodiversity loss and geopolitical tensions.

Cultivated for thousands of years by indigenous farmers and local communities, the potato is among the most genetically diverse crops on the planet. This diversity has enabled it to adapt to and thrive in a vast range of environments and conditions, from high-altitude farms to temperate lowlands – demonstrating the fusion of culture, climate and agriculture.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ensures that potatoes and other plant genetic resources that are so vital to our food systems are conserved and shared equitably. Through its Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing, the Treaty facilitates the global exchange of plant genetic material, helping researchers, breeders, and farmers around the world to develop improved varieties that are more nutritious, more resilient and more accessible. It also supports projects in developing countries that are often rich in natural resources but need greater technical and financial resources to preserve them.

The Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund supports the capacity of farmers and plant breeders to develop high-quality varieties that are tailored to diverse social and environmental conditions. To date, it has supported 108 projects in 78 developing countries, benefiting over a million people directly and indirectly, including small-scale farmers, researchers, plant breeders, genebank curators, public officials, and students.

The Multilateral System, the world’s foremost global exchange mechanism for plant genetic resources, has facilitated the transfer of more than 51,000 potato samples since 2012 – primarily from international genebanks located in Peru, which account for about half of all exchanges.

Crucially, the International Plant Treaty recognizes and supports the enduring contributions of farmers, indigenous and local communities, as the custodians who have nurtured and stewarded crop diversity for generations.  The Treaty calls on all nations to protect and promote Farmers’ Rights, acknowledging their knowledge and practices as vital and indispensable to our collective ability to meet the food and agricultural needs of tomorrow

The potato illustrates this powerfully. Many of the traits we rely on today, such as drought tolerance and disease resistance, are derived from the genetic richness found in traditional varieties and wild relatives. Conserving this diversity, and the knowledge that accompanies it, and ensuring that it remains available to all is not just an agricultural imperative, it is a strategic one.

On this International Potato Day, I call upon the international community to reaffirm its commitment to conserving agrobiodiversity. Let us invest in the conservation of plant genetic resources, support the custodians of this diversity, and strengthen international collaboration to build more sustainable, resilient and equitable agrifood systems for all.

The potato, like the Treaty, is rooted in the past and vital to our future. Together, we can ensure it continues to nourish us and generations to come.

@PlantTreaty

#ItAllStartsWithTheSeed