The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) manages public works programmes to provide transfers to vulnerable, food-insecure and/or crisis-affected households in return for the provision of labour (particularly through labour-intensive construction and rehabilitation projects). The two main objectives of public works programmes are to: (i) provide income opportunities and increase consumption of goods; and (ii) build or repair assets and infrastructure that are vital for sustaining the livelihoods of a community.

This paper reviews the major conceptual frameworks and analytical frameworks for applying social protection in rural and agricultural contexts, proposes a synthesised ‘consolidated’ framework, and reviews the evidence base on the impacts of social protection on agricultural production and rural poverty reduction.

Economic inclusion is at the forefront of the social protection agenda, and a concept increasingly recognized and developed by policymakers, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and development partners at large. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) recognizes economic inclusion as one key pillar to eradicate extreme poverty, to foster more equal societies and to reduce disparities between urban and rural areas.
This paper focuses on identifying the

Social cash transfers can greatly improve the lives of poor and vulnerable people through reduced poverty and improved food security. However, for households that are exposed to several stressors, a cash transfer program might not be sufficient to respond to all of the households’ needs.

During the pandemic, access to basic resources, health information, job offers and even access to education requires an internet connection. The digital gap means vulnerable populations are left out, as they make little use of technology and have low levels of digital literacy, limited access to reliable information and little contact with the digital economy.

Fundación Capital, with the support of the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), is currently carrying out a Graduation Project in Paraguay with a transformative gender-based approach within the framework of Programa Abrazo (The Hug Program) of the Ministry of Childhood and Adolescence. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the project had to be modified and required design and activity adjustments for the different contexts in order to maintain ties with participants, even with preventive social distancing measures.

In this context, MDS and Fundación Capital have been working since 2019 in a five-year alliance funded by Co-Impact, to promote the social and economic inclusion of families in poverty through systems change. In response to the challenges the Tekopora program has faced, we joined forces to find a timely and scalable alternative to face-to-face training and coaching, in order to reach the thousands of participants who were suddenly deprived of any contact with their family guides.

This policy guide opens up new ground in reviewing the contribution of social protection programmes in facilitating sustained escapes from poverty through the productive inclusion of poor individuals in low- and middle-income countries (LMICS). The overarching question to which it seeks to respond is: what are the key features of existing programmes that allow poor people to sustainably escape from poverty in a cost-effective and scalable way?

Factsheets on linking social assistance and productive inclusion programs in Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Indonesia, Mexico, Peru, and the Philippines

Asset-based approaches – usually involving asset transfers and/or asset building – are increasingly central to thinking about poverty alleviation, social protection, graduation and livelihood resilience. Although the notion of assets is well established in the literature, the meanings of and relationships between asset(s), livelihood capital(s), risks(s), welfare and wellbeing, and graduation need further analysis.

In the last decade social cash transfer programmes have become extremely popular in sub-Saharan Africa, and are often portrayed as an instrument that can facilitate graduation out of poverty. The evidence on whether social cash transfers have had actual effects on graduation, however, is limited. This article provides a cross-country reflection of the potential effects of social cash transfers on graduation, drawing from impact evaluation results of cash transfer programmes in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho and Zambia.

The Haitian NGO Fonkoze, with the support of Concern Worldwide, has been implementing the Chemin Lavi Miyo (CLM) Graduation Programme since June 2007 which targets the extreme poor in Haiti. Early results were promising, but questions prevailed around the sustainability of benefits. To address these concerns a further round of data collection was undertaken amongst a group of participants four years after graduation.

Rwanda demonstrates how a process of community consultation and participation is able to identify and rank community members according to ‘social poverty’, drawing on the Ubudehe tradition which is considered a strength of Rwanda's social fabric. However, with the Ubudehe categorisation now the basis for determining eligibility to a range of social benefits, the process has come under some strain.

This report assesses the impact of the Productive Safety Net, Other Food Security and Household Asset Building Programs on food security, assets, and agricultural production. It also examines whether these have led to investments in new nonfarm business activities and whether they have had disincentive effects.

For 250 million children under the age of five in low- and middle-income countries, extreme poverty and stunting undermines their developmental potential. This puts children at risk of a lifetime of hardship, and remaining trapped in poverty. Provision of economic support to families, in particular to mothers as the main carers for children, through comprehensive social protection programmes such as ‘graduation programmes’ may offer a ‘double boon’: it can improve early childhood development (ECD) in the short term and reduce poverty in the long run.

The Covid-19 pandemic has meant sweeping changes for economies and societies, with the most devastating consequences for individuals and groups with pre-existing vulnerabilities. These impacts are likely to be compounded in contexts with greater fragility. As attention shifts from addressing urgent humanitarian needs and crafting quick response systems to long-term solutions, it is time to think about the role of social protection as part of a longer-term solution to living with Covid-19, as well as supporting efforts to build back better.

Graduation out of chronic poverty has recently been receiving considerable attention globally for its potential synergies with social protection, microfinance and livelihoods development approaches to poverty reduction. This paper examines the evidence regarding the effectiveness of graduation strategies in reducing extreme poverty, with a particular focus on rural households. Data have been collected from archives, interviews and published research. However, this inquiry goes beyond a literature review.

In Peru, researchers partnered with implementing organizations Plan International-Peru and Asociación Arariwa. The study focused on households in the rural communities of Canas and Acomayo, located in the department of Cusco, which is among the poorest departments in Peru. To select the poorest members of the communities, the project team conducted a Participatory Wealth Ranking, in which villagers collectively ranked households according to their wealth during a community meeting. Asociación Arariwa conducted a short survey afterwards to verify the results of the ranking.

In Ethiopia, researchers partnered with the Relief Society of Tigray (REST) and the Dedebit Credit and Savings Institution (DECSI). The study focused on participants in Ethiopia’s food-for-work program who belonged to households without any outstanding loans and with at least one member capable of work. A local food security task force narrowed eligibility further by choosing those they considered to be the poorest members of their community.

In Ghana, researchers partnered with implementing organizations Innovations for Poverty Action and Presbyterian Agricultural Services (PAS). The study took place in the Northern and Upper East regions of Ghana, a region that is disproportionately poorer than the coastal south. Fifty-three percent of households in the study were living on US$1.25 a day or less when the study began in 2011, compared to 29 percent in Ghana as a whole.