To fight poverty and food insecurity in Africa, governments and donors have first given priority measures to revive agriculture. Recently, however, strengthening social protection has become more and more popular. Following pilot initiatives, social safety nets are now being scaled up across the African continent. Comparing the effectiveness of these two types of measures makes sense. In Malawi, input subsidies have increased maize production, but are ineffective at reducing rural poverty and ensuring food security when the context is unfavourable. Social welfare, in the form of cash transfers, may appear to compete for the same funding, but its effects are complementary. It is by combining these two programs – social support for the most vulnerable, productive support for poor farmers – that Malawi could better respond to the diverse needs of its population.