Policy options for increasing the contribution of social protection to food security

The paper was written for the Forum on Food Security in Southern Africa. Firstly, it looks at the definition of social protection and talks about choices of priority in implementing social transfer programmes in Southern Africa. Then it presents several social protection type actions ranging from cereal stocks to school meal programmes, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of these experiences. Finally, the author examines to what extent the poverty reduction documents of countries in the region take account of the social protection question.

 Stephen Devereux, IDS - September 2003