Social protection policies aim to reduce socio-economic risks, vulnerability, extreme poverty and deprivation, while smallholder agricultural policies focus on improving productivity in crops, fisheries, forestry and livestock and improving access to markets. Both areas of policy are important in poverty reduction strategies, but little attention has been paid to the interaction between them and how that influences their design and implementation. This study explores the interaction between formal social protection and agriculture by proposing a theory of change and conducting an empirical review that identifies how social protection impacts agricultural production and how agricultural interventions reduce risks and vulnerability at the household and local economy levels. The paper seeks to provide an empirical rationale for building synergies and coordinating complementarities between social protection and smallholder agriculture in developing countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. The review also provides some insights to the FAO and its partners on how social protection and agriculture can potentially complement each other.