Claire Provost in Addis Ababa The Ecologist 25th April 2014 Ethiopia leads the way in preserving crop seeds by engaging farming communities in the effort, and making the exchange of seeds part of village life and culture, reports Claire Provost. But now it's all at risk from a G8 plan to open Africa to corporate agriculture. Inside the Ethiopian Institute of Biodiversity's unassuming office complex in Addis Ababa, a series of vaults houses tens of thousands of seed samples tightly sealed into small envelopes and neatly catalogued in cold storage. It's a treasure trove of genetic diversity painstakingly assembled and set aside for future generations. Founded in 1976, Ethiopia's national seed bank is the oldest and largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. It's also part of a pioneering experiment to link scientists with small-scale farmers to collectively revive and conserve traditional, indigenous seeds in the face of drought and oth...