We link employment to stability in five African countries to test if standard interventions influence complex outcomes. We show positive impacts on some indicators but negative externalities also arise. There are, thus, grounds for optimism but further work is required.

We explore the micro-foundations of fragility by discussing how to measure the exposure to fragility at the individual level.

A recent strand of aid programming aims to develop household assets by removing the stresses associated with meeting basic nutritional needs. In this paper, we posit that such nutrition-sensitive programmes can reduce malnourishment by encouraging further investment in diet.