That a correlation could exist between the uses made by people of biological diversity and the availability of that diversity is seldom considered. Obviously, much of the innovative activity of farmers lies in their fields. In the Horn of Africa, Ethiopian farmers maintain variety performance records, sometimes inscribed on door posts. Farmers normally breed for specific microenvironments, but it is often the case that their folk varieties can perform remarkably well in roughly similar environments in other parts of the world. Research institutes report the use of an Ethiopian farmer variety in Burkina Faso, and of a South African variety released in Ethiopia.
Rural societies maintain agricultural biodiversity because it is essential to their survival.
They breed their own improved varieties for the same reason. There is no useful distinction, for them, between conservation and development. Minimizing risk is an important part of the livelihood strategies of rural communities. From cassava cultivators in the Dominican Republic to potato growers in the Andes and rice farmers in the Philippines, formal sector researchers are now looking for, and finding, genuine inventiveness. Sudanese farmers breeders are usually women.