Much has been written on the importance of diversification of activities in rural Africa. However, less attention has been paid to distinguish two diversification patterns, namely local diversification and migration, and their relationship. This paper examines whether they are complements or substitutes, by using original data from two Senegalese rural areas. We adopted a multivariate Tobit model to investigate the relationship between local diversification and migration, and a probit model to analyse the probability of being in National or International migration. Nontrivial finding suggests that local diversification and migration are substitutes, implying that migration is a form of insurance.