Social protection is increasingly becoming recognized as an important strategy for poverty reduction and resilience building, while enhancing food and nutrition security. Evidence emerging out of Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia, shows that social protection programmes are generating a broad range of social and economic impacts, contributing to the overall transition from extreme poverty and subsistence farming to sustainable livelihoods. In the Near East and North Africa (NENA) region, social protection can contribute to addressing the range of vulnerabilities affecting rural, small scale farmers, such as dependency on imported food, high population growth, the strain over basic social and productive services due to migratory flows as well as increasing vulnerability to natural disasters and the negative effects of climate change. This study assesses the current support that national governments in NENA are providing in relation to social protection and agricultural policies in the context of rural development. Based on the limited available regional literature, the study identifies gaps in social protection coverage for the agricultural sector and explores how to enhance linkages and coordination among social protection and agricultural interventions.