The need for safety nets in Sub-Saharan Africa is vast. In addition to being the world’s poorest region, Sub-Saharan Africa is also one of the most unequal. In this context, redistribution must be seen as a legitimate way to fight poverty and  ensure  shared  prosperity  †“  and  all  the  more  so  in  countries  where growth is driven by extractive industries that are not labor-intensive and often employ very few poor people. Given that most African countries face difficult decisions about how to allocate limited resources among a number of social programs,  evidence  is  important.  Do  Safety  Net  programs  actually  benefit the poorest people? This book demonstrates with empirical evidence that it is possible to reach the poorest and most vulnerable people with safety net programs, and provides lessons for the effective use of targeting methods to achieve this outcome in the region.