Reports on completed and planned research to examine farmers' perceptions of different breeds, the discretion they exercise over breed composition, and the impacts of breed perceptions on breeding practices. ILCA has recently undertaken three household surveys that shed light on farmers' breed preferences and breeding practices. The survey results indicate that farmers' breed prortfolios are the outcome of dynamic processes that vary across farmers and environmental conditions.

This chapter investigates the options for improving the performance of small ruminants interms of their contribution to household incomes. The characteristics of the existing production system are first sketched in order to identify the resource requirements and constraints of the system. Based on this imformation, a steady-state flock model is then developed and used to assess the impact of variation in growth, reproduction and mortality rates production.