On 16 May, M Ann Tutwiler, Director General of Bioversity International (BI), addressed an audience at Maynooth University on the topic of Nutrition and Resilience. This is a critical challenge for the 21st century as we face the simultaneous challenges of raising food production for a projected rise in global population, meeting nutritional objectives (on malnutrition and obesity), and enabling rural agriculture to adapt to climate change. A key to addressing these challenges is to re-discover diverse indigenous tillage food crop strains that can adapt to the challenges of climate change, deliver improved nutritional outcomes, and contribute to the biodiversity that is essential to natural pollination and ecosystems. BI has long specialised in ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources but now has a broader understanding of the role of biodiversity in food ecosystems. It is to the fore in promoting global agricultural biodiversity as a means to increase food security and improve nutrition using indigenous crops and in developing community resilience, in less developed countries.