What works for Africa’s poorest: programmes and policies for the extreme poor contains a unique cross-section of country-specific case studies from across sub-Saharan Africa, combined with cross-country analyses of important programmes, written by practitioners, academics, and advisers. It is essential reading for researchers and students studying poverty in international development and for policy makers and programme managers involved in poverty reduction programmes.

The role of public works in addressing poverty: lessons from recent developments in public works programming chapter, written by Anna McCord, explores recent innovations in public works programming in sub-Saharan Africa to address the challenge of social protection provision in contexts of chronic mass under- and unemployment.

Poverty reduction for Africa’s poorest: implementation and policy thoughts is written by Rebecca Holmes and discusses three institutional and policy challenges to implementing social protection at scale in Nigeria: fiscal decentralisation, limited capacity, and a weak governance context. It concludes with opportunities for future strengthening of the sector.