Loss of income and entitlement to food is a common source of distress in times of drought. Rural works help to generate the income required to buy food for poor households.
This strategy features in the framework of Agenda 21 as formulated at UNCED (Rio de Janeiro, 1992), now coordinated by the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development and implemented through national and local authorities. Agenda 21 recommends preparing rural projects for providing short-term rural employment to drought-affected households.