The BOLD Project
Start year: 2021
Biodiversity for Opportunities, Livelihoods and Development (BOLD) is a 10-year project to strengthen food and nutrition security worldwide by supporting the conservation and use of crop diversity.
Harnessing Crop Diversity To Adapt To The Climate Crisis
Funded with USD 58 million from the Government of Norway and launched in 2021, it builds on the work and achievements of the decade-long Crop Wild Relatives Project (2011-2021).
BOLD will support 15 national genebanks worldwide to conserve their existing collections, develop new crop diversity through partnerships with breeders, and collaborate with farmers to use that diversity in their fields.
Diversity For Long-term Impact
BOLD directly contributes to Target 2.5 of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 to “maintain the genetic diversity of seeds, cultivated plants and farmed and domesticated animals and their related wild species, including through soundly managed and diversified seed and plant banks at the national, regional and international levels, and promote access to and fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the utilization of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge.”

Biodiversity is crucial for sustainable food systems. This understanding is part of the reason for Norway’s establishment of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. We are pleased to support BOLD as it effectively translates conservation of crop diversity in genebanks into development outcomes related to food security.
Related News
Vietnam Recognizes its First-Ever Rice Variety Derived from Crop Wild Relatives
Plant Breeders Innovate Against Climate Change
Vietnam's agriculture is at a crossroads. Extreme weather events, higher temperatures and unpredictable rainfall are putting pressure on the country’s food supply and disrupting...
20 Jun 2025
Heritage and Health Take Center Stage at the Latest Svalbard Global Seed Vault Deposit
As genebanks around the world deposit seed samples in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault this week, the focus is on how crop diversity reflects cultural heritage.
LONGYEARBYEN, NORWAY, 3 June 2025 – Fourteen genebanks will deposit...
3 Jun 2025
The Wow Potatoes of Kenya: Fighting Late Blight with Farmer-Approved, Disease-Resistant Spuds
Fighting Late Blight with Farmer-Approved, Disease-Resistant Spuds
30 May 2025
Key Partners
Crop Trust (facilitator)
- International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (Plant Treaty)
- Nordic Genetic Resource Center
- Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU)
- Svalbard Global Seed Vault
Supporters
- Government of Norway