Smallstock-keepers are rational people concerned primarily with the well-being of themselves and their families, though the nature of that rationality is not always that which is assumed by standard economic analyses. There is thus no clear separation between economic and social issues, and it would be a mistake to assume that social issues are less important than economic issues, or that they are confined to traditional societies and will decrease in importance as development progresses.

Social and economic issues are clearly of major importance, and these are discussed alongside relevant topics in livestock management. Many social issues relating to smallstock keepers are therefore also discussed under:

	The Role of Smallstock in Development and Poverty Reduction, and in
	Subsistence, Commodities and Markets.

Certain cross-cutting issues relating to the social context of smallstock production:

• Indigenous knowledge
• Labour
• Land tenure
• Gender
• HIV/AIDS

and Methods for identifying and working with the social context of livestock production. These can be further divided, although there is considerable overlap:

• Initial surveys, which can either be participatory or structured
• Participatory technology development
• Monitoring and evaluation
• Poverty-mapping