Social protection has been recognized as a key strategy to address poverty, vulnerability and social exclusion in Lesotho.

As a result, the Government, with support from UNICEF and the European Union, developed the Child Grants Programme (CGP), which provides unconditional cash transfers to poor and vulnerable households registered in the National Information System for Social Assistance (NISSA).

 In order to strengthen the impact of the CGP on poverty, the accumulation of assets and on savings and borrowing behaviour for investment, FAO Lesotho began a pilot initiative in 2013, called the Linking Food Security to Social Protection Programme (LFSSP). It sought to improve food security among poor and vulnerable households by providing vegetable seeds and training on homestead gardening to CGP beneficiaries.