This review suggests that settlement programs are too often designed with the assumption that all settlers will succeed. This has led to centralized administration and rigid designs, rather than decentralized approaches, flexibility in implementation, support for spontaneous settlement, and reliance on settlers' own investment capacity. Collective farms have failed. Cropland is best allocated to individual families, and their land rights must be clearly defined as ownership or long-term leases. Farm sizes have to be flexibly adjusted to skills, availability of family labor, and the capital assets of the families. Settlers should therefore be allowed to sell or rent their land to other beneficiaries. If poor settlers are to succeed, settlement cannot be based solely on credit finance and provision must be made for grant elements. Paternalistic constraints on crop choice, technology, marketing, or labor market participation have usually not been enforceable or have had adverse effects. Keywords: resettlement, land acquisition, tillage services, irrigation, social services, extension.