Originally published in 1987, this book discusses the problem of rural employment in developing countries. It puts forward strategies for action and is intended as an applied development manual to assist those organising rural public works programmes. It draws on the experiences of over 20 countries which have implemented such programmes and it draws out the lessons for developing countries in all continents. It discusses policy making, organisational features of programmes, the need to be realistic in establishing the potential and limitations of programmes and explores the problems of assessing performance.