This report offers a brief overview of social protection within the current development discourse with reference to Low Income Countries (LICs). The report has the objective of contributing to the emerging debate among a coalition of Dutch Ministries, NGOs and knowledge institutes, and stimulating critical thinking around the relationship between social protection and rural development. The report is in part a response to the memorandum on Agriculture, Rural Economic Development and Food Security (see Appendix 1), produced in May 2008 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality. This memorandum makes clear why, how and where the Dutch Government steps up its efforts to contribute more effectively to the achievement of especially MDG-1. One of the strategies (track 5) is on food security and transfer mechanisms.