Social protection for food security: A report by the High Level Panel of Experts on Food Security and Nutrition

Social protection has risen rapidly up the development policy agenda in the last decade. There is also a clear trend to making social protection, as well as food security, ‘rights-based’ rather than ‘discretionary’. Yet no clear consensus has so far emerged concerning many basic design choices and implementation of social protection policies and programs. This report looks at ways to lessen vulnerability through social and productive safety net programs and policies with respect to food and nutritional security, taking into consideration differing conditions across countries and regions. It also reviews the impact of existing policies for the improvement of living conditions and resilience of vulnerable populations and the benefits of social protection measures on improving local production and livelihoods and promoting better nutrition.