National genebanks hold vast crop diversity that could support more resilient agri-food systems, yet their collections remain underutilized due to weak linkages with users. To address this, Kenya’s national genebank piloted the Germplasm User Group (GUG) model to facilitate structured engagement with farmers, researchers and other stakeholders. The objective of this study is to gain understanding on the feasibility and utility of this approach in supporting farmers in accessing and uncovering new and promising crop diversity. In this activity, 5 participatory variety selection (PVS) field days were held where farmers evaluated 2,041 sorghum accessions, out of which 393 accessions were selected as having farmer-preferred traits. Results demonstrate that farmer selection was non-random, as it resulted in accessions with significantly different trait profiles. Useful traits such as tolerance to striga and early maturity were identified. Seeds of 51 accessions were shared with 514 households belonging to 26 GUGs for on-farm evaluation. Out of these, farmers selected 46 accessions for seed saving and showed significantly greater preference for genebank accessions compared to the check variety. Partnerships were developed with sorghum breeding and research teams, farmer groups, extension service and marketers. This study has highlighted the value of agro-morphological characterization and passport data in assembling germplasm subsets with useful traits. The study has further shown that PVS and farmer-managed evaluation provide a powerful pathway through which farmers can discover and access the otherwise ‘hidden’ diversity conserved in genebank seed collections.