The objectives of this study are to assess the role of small ruminants in the food production systems of developing countries, examine their advantages and disadvantages, analyze the constraints limiting their further contribution to the welfare fo small farm/low income rural producers, prescribe measures for overcoming these constrainsts, and make recommendations related to potential World Bank involvement in support of sheep and goats. The small ruminants considered in this study are limited to sheep and goats in the developing countries of the tropics and subtropics, which are kept for multiple purposes including milk, meat, fiber, leather and manure