In a world where agriculture faces increasing challenges—from climate change to biodiversity loss—safeguarding plant genetic resources (PGR) is not just a scientific necessity, but a social and environmental responsibility. Plant genetic resources are the backbone of our production, food, and nutrition systems. The conservation of those resources is of paramount importance for humanity. In Benin, the University of Abomey-Calavi is leading PGR conservation for use through CalaviGen, a genebank dedicated to preserving the country’s agricultural diversity for future generations.
What does PGR conservation entail?
The overarching meaning of PGR conservation refers to the suite of activities dedicated to maintain plant genetic resources while promoting their access and utilization by relevant end-users’ groups including researchers, breeders, students, farmers, among others. These resources include traditional crop varieties, wild relatives, and improved cultivars. In short, conserving plant genetic resources means keeping the seed alive for sustainable utilization.
The core activities in PGR conservation include:
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- collecting: to take the resources out of pressure;
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- acquiring: to formally catalogue the resources as a material to conserve;
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- regenerating: to increase the quantity of seeds for conservation;
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- conserving: to ensure the seeds are safely stored with all its quality and attribute;
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- documentating: to discover hidden traits and ascribe a unique value or attribute to the material;
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- distributing: to promote large-scale use of the rescued material; and
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- duplicating: to ensure the existence of back-ups.
PGR conservations also involve capacity building to shape the skills in staff, scientists and communities involved, and is a cornerstone for food and nutrition security, climate resilience, and innovation in agriculture.
The University of Abomey-Calavi at the Forefront
In Benin, the University of Abomey-Calavi (UAC) plays a central role in PGR conservation. Through its Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and the Genetics, Biotechnology, and Seed Science Unit (GBioS), UAC established in 2015 CalaviGen. Through various projects and partnerships (e.g., Taiwan Africa Vegetable Initiative (TAVI) with World Vegetable Center, Building Opportunity for Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) with the Crop Trust) CalaviGen has become instrumental in safeguarding cereal, legume, vegetable and fruit genetic resources. As of May 2025, CalaviGen, conserved nearly 19719 accessions of 75 species belonging to 17 botanical families. In three years of operation, CalaviGen was able to distribute 5742 accessions to three key end-users’ groups including students, breeders, researchers, genebanks in three of out of the four Africa sub-regions including West, East and Southern Africa.
With the support of the Crop Trust’s BOLD initiative, CalaviGen regenerated a total of 3,043 accessions of 27 species and safety-duplicated at the Svalbard Global Seed Vault 2,954 accessions of the same species. Another batch of 2,918 accessions of the 27 species is also expected to be primary-duplicated at the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) genebank in Ibadan.
What CalaviGen Offers today
CalaviGen remains a knowledge hub when it comes to:
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- research and conservation projects: focused on opportunity but also strategic and nutritious crops such as maize, groundnut, sesame, fonio, Bambara groundnut, and traditional vegetables, indigenous fruits;
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- training workshops: on seed regeneration, dormancy-breaking, and database management;
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- seed distribution services: supporting agricultural resilience; and
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- collaboration through projects that map underutilized species and support collecting activities.
A Growing Impact
CalaviGen is not just storing seeds—it’s preserving resilience, knowledge, and possibility. By connecting Benin’s plant genetic resources with global platforms and local communities, CalaviGen ensures that the country is ready to face agricultural challenges.
Plant genetic diversity is a national treasure. CalaviGen is making sure it stays alive—seed by seed, season by season.
Milphine Mikpasso
Communication Officer, Genetics, Biotechnology, and Seed Science Unit (GBioS) of the University of Abomey-Calavi