Within the context of the role of rural employment in overall economic development, the objectives were to summarize existing knowledge of the rural African nonfarm sector and to develop an analytical framework for examing utilization of labor in this sector, using a descriptive profile, a theoretical model, and a research approach to rural nonfarm employment in Sierra Leone. Empirical evidence assembled for the profile revealed that the rural nonfarm sector was an important source of income and employment in Africa. The most important occupational groups in this sector were "sales workers" and "craftsmen and production process workers" (70 percent). Modifications of the Hymer-Resnick model included relaxing the assumption that output of the rural nonfarm sector cannot be traded to urban areas and abroad, and considering the effects of the backward and forward linkages of agriculture on growth of this sector. Providing the framework for proposed research in Sierra Leone and other African countries, the modified model included the following components: an estimate of total population of rural and nonfarm establishments; a description of these establishments (type of activity and workshop, number of workers and machines, quantity of output and input, and capital assets); characteristics of the entrepeneur; and farm household activities, income, and expenditures. (JC)