RABAT, Morocco — Should a doomsday agricultural crisis hit the world's driest environments, scientists and farmers will turn to an up-and-coming research center and seed bank in Morocco to restock their harvests.

Tucked away in the university hub of Irfane in Rabat, the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas, or ICARDA, hosts the largest collection of seeds in North Africa.

“If for any reason, a particular community lost all their resources, we are capable of providing them with the seeds for restoration and rehabilitation,” says Ahmed Amri, head of ICARDA's Genetic Resources Unit.

The crucial role of seed banks in protecting biodiversity is receiving increasing attention because of climate change, which threatens to wipe out crops as dry areas of the world get even hotter and drier. The effect on African agriculture is among the topics being discussed at U.N. climate talks taking place in Morocco.

The site in Rabat has become ICARDA's primary center of storage and research after its previous hub in Aleppo, Syria, was seized by an Islamist rebel group in September 2015.

“We couldn't continue doing this work because of the situation in Syria, so we decided to make arrangements to move elsewhere to continue our work,” says Amri, who used to work in Aleppo, but is now leading genetic research efforts in Rabat.

While many of the research activities moved to Rabat, 98 percent of the Aleppo center's seeds were safely transferred to ICARDA's center in neighboring Lebanon. Duplicates were also sent to a “doomsday” seed vault in Svalbard in the Norwegian Arctic, which serves as a backup for other seed banks worldwide.

Rebels from the ultraconservative Ahrar al-Sham group have occupied the Aleppo center since September 2015, cutting off access to its 75 employees. Amri has daily contact with the five staff members who remain in Aleppo, including associate scientist Ali Shehadeh.

“With the cease-fire, it's stable and unstable at times,” Shehadeh told The Associated Press from Aleppo via Skype.

The Rabat center holds tens of thousands of seeds from wheat and barley to lentils and chickpeas inside a vault in near-freezing temperatures. The seed bank not only preserves these essential staples but develops them to become more resistant to disease and a warming climate.

Scientists at the Rabat center work closely with farmers in Marchouch, a nearby rural town. The scientists provide seed samples to farmers who allocate about 2 percent of their own farm land to test the seeds and provide feedback to scientists.

“We are looking for science-based solutions for farmers' problems,” says Shiv Kumar Agrawal, a lentil breeder with ICARDA.