The FAO just published on-line a new study in its Animal Production and Health Paper series that analyses the role of women in managing livestock diversity.  It concludes that “women, as the main users of locally adapted livestock breeds, play a major role in managing animal genetic resources and thereby conserving them. They also make deliberate breeding decisions, generally preferring animals that are easy to manage and disease resistant and that therefore do not increase their workload.” A number of case-studies, many of them from South India, are presented.