Social protection is vital for food security, family farming, and poverty reduction, aiding households in accessing food and addressing malnutrition. The FAO supports smallholder family farmers in various countries to manage shocks and enhance productivity through social protection initiatives. Efforts include evaluating cash transfers, integrating social protection into national strategies, and promoting its role in rural development.

1. Social Protection
in the context of food security, family farming
and poverty reduction

2. Social protection is an essential element of
both aspects of FAO’s Twin-Track Approach
to reducing hunger and poverty.

3. Social protection helps households
to overcome undernourishment by
providing direct access to food or
means to buy food.
Underlying causes of malnutrition
can be addressed through promotive and transformative policy
instruments strengthening access to markets, productive resources,
their better management, and investments in human capital.

4. Social protection also enables households,
and smallholder family farmers in particular,
to better manage shocks and engage
in more profitable livelihoods.

5. Social protection can support family farming,
the predominant form of agriculture, by helping
family farmers increase productivity
and graduate from poverty.

6. In Myanmar, Indonesia and Colombia, FAO promotes
social protection for poverty reduction and
sustainable natural resource management
among smallholder family farmers.

7. In West Africa, FAO helps countries mainstream
social protection in national development
and food security strategies.

8. FAO also provides policy support to governments
for incorporating social protection into
national strategies to fight hunger.

9. FAO is exploring the linkages and strengthening
coordination between social protection,
agriculture, food security and rural
development.

10. From Protection to Production (PtoP)
.
FAO’s PtoP project evaluates the impact of cash
transfers in collaboration with UNICEF and the
governments of 7 sub-Saharan countries.

11. FAO raises awareness and facilitates policy dialogue
on the role of social protection in rural
development and poverty reduction.