This rapid literature review summarises evidence on system strengthening for nutrition-sensitive social protection, focusing on evidence and lessons learned relevant for eastern and southern Africa. It identifies academic and grey literature published since 2015.
The evidence shows that social protection measures, including cash transfers, cash-plus approaches, school feeding, and public works, can consistently improve food consumption and diet quality. However, evidence of impact on nutritional status is more mixed. This reflects the fact that malnutrition is driven by multiple factors beyond income alone. Social protection is therefore most likely to contribute to improved nutrition when it is linked to complementary services such as nutrition counselling, health, water, sanitation and hygiene, and food system support.
The review identifies several priorities for strengthening nutrition-sensitive social protection design. Programmes are more likely to support better diet-related outcomes when they have clear nutrition objectives, evidence-informed theories of change, and strong links to available services and local drivers of malnutrition. A life course approach is particularly important, including attention to pregnant and lactating women, young children, and other nutritionally vulnerable groups. The evidence also highlights the importance of gender-responsive design and getting the ‘dosage’ right: transfer size, duration, predictability, timing, and the quality and intensity of non-monetary support all matter.
At system level, the review points to a common set of enabling conditions: stronger policy alignment between nutrition and social protection; effective multisectoral coordination; predictable and adequate financing; sufficient frontline workforce capacity; and interoperable information, monitoring, and referral systems. Case studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, and Mozambique illustrate promising approaches, including life cycle targeting, community-based counselling, integrated digital management information systems, and home-grown school feeding. As a social protection instrument, school feeding provides direct support to vulnerable children while also serving as a practical entry point for improving nutrition, strengthening school participation, and linking food demand to local producers. It is therefore notable that several countries in sub-Saharan Africa, including Zambia, and in Asia have explicitly recognised school feeding in their United Nations Food Systems Summit national pathways as a means of advancing wider national development priorities and progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
However, important gaps remain. These include limited attention to marginalised groups, weak practical integration between nutrition and social protection systems, and insufficient adaptation to context, including differences in market functioning, remoteness, and exposure to climate shocks. Together, these weaknesses can reduce both the effectiveness and the equity of programme outcomes.
