When Cary Fowler and Geoffrey Hawtin began thinking about ways to protect the world’s food supply, they came up with what Fowler calls “the craziest idea anybody ever had”—a global seed vault built into the side of an Arctic mountain.
Fowler now serves as the U.S. special envoy for Global Food Security. Hawtin is an agricultural scientist from the United Kingdom. Twenty years ago, the pair envisioned the so-called “doomsday vault” as backup storage for seeds. Those seeds could be used to breed new crops if existing seed banks were threatened by wars, climate change, or other upheaval. In May, officials in Washington, D.C., announced that Fowler and Hawtin won the 2024 World Food Prize for their work.
These days, the idea of saving seeds doesn’t sound unusual. Seeds are a valuable natural resource, because plants can become extinct just like animals can. It makes sense to keep a backup reserve of all kinds of seeds somewhere safe. Somewhere locked. Somewhere at the top of the world. But 15 years ago, Fowler says, it sounded bizarre.
The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian archipelago called Svalbard opened in 2008. It now holds about 1.25 million seed samples from nearly every country. The largely concrete structure, built into the side of a mountain, provides genetic protection for over 6,000 varieties of crops and culturally important plants.
Some people compare the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to a supervillain’s lair. Workers built the vault 393 feet into a mountain so that every room inside would remain chilly—no matter what happens outside. What if world temperatures rise? What if an asteroid hits Earth, knocking out Svalbard’s power? Even—what if there’s a nuclear war? Scientists thought about all these things before choosing Svalbard’s frigid climate. Permafrost covers the ground’s surface, meaning each seed will remain cool even if the AC goes out. It also means very little moisture will get in to spoil the seeds.
Fowler and Hawtin hope to push for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding for seed banks, which are cheap for what they offer—a plentiful food supply in case of disaster.
“This is really a chance to get that message out and say, look, this relatively small amount of money is our insurance policy . . . that we’re going to be able to feed the world in 50 years,” Hawtin says.
Fowler and Hawtin will be awarded the annual prize this fall in Des Moines, Iowa, where the food prize foundation is based. They’ll split a $500,000 award.
Why? Good stewardship can mean thinking ahead and preparing in case of disaster.
