Pig production is becoming increasingly important in Eastern Africa in recent years. Two studies were carried out in Mbozi and Mbeya rural districts to characterise smallholder pig production systems and associated pig management practises. A participatory rural appraisal (PRA), involving 279 pigs-keeping households in nine villages and a cross sectional survey using a random sample of 300 pig farmers in 30 villages of the study districts, were used to collect data. Important economic activities were crop farming, livestock keeping, petty business, casual labour and artisan works in that order. The mean farm size and number of pigs per household was 2 ± 2.7 ha and 4.9 ± 4.2 pigs, respectively. The largest categories of pig herd structure were breeding females followed by piglets. Age, marital status, household size and land size of household head had significant influence on the pig herd size (P < 0.05). Pig farmers practised three main types of pig management systems, namely, total confinement, semi confinement and free range/herding. Each system had specific management practices in relation to feeding and housing. The frequencies of these systems varied significantly (P < 0.01) by socio-economic factors, such as, educational status of household head, land size and herd sizes of pigs, goats and cattle. The authors recommend effective use of locally available resources and careful consideration of existing farming systems for sustainable development of smallholder pig production.