In the last years, social policy has been rediscovered and reappraised as a important tool to address
poverty and social inequality in development contexts. After decades of structural adjustment policies
and cutting back of national social programmes, international organizations such as the World Bank,
the ILO and UNDP increasingly recognize social protection as a main contributor to social cohesion
and development. However, there are few studies that systematically analyse the link between formal
and informal social protection mechanisms in developing countries and their contribution to the social
protection level of the population. In this article we analyse the interplay between formal and informal
social protection institutions and their contribution to the shaping of the welfare mix of sub-Saharan
African countries. We look at the wide range of social protection mechanisms available in sub-Saharan
countries, namely formal social security arrangements, the provision of basic social goods and
informal, community- and family-based social protection mechanisms. In analysing their strengths and
weaknesses, we assess how these different mechanisms can complement each other and can
contribute to the overall level of social protection of the population. Our analysis illustrates that,
although each of the discussed mechanisms has its pitfalls, they largely complement each other and in
this way are able to protect the livelihoods of the major part of the population. Furthermore, we argue
that the sub-Saharan African welfare mix not only is characterized by the interplay between formal
and informal mechanisms, but also by the interplay between different actors (e.g. the government,
international organizations, NGO’s, communities, family, etc.). This intensive collaboration is needed to
safeguard the effectiveness and efficiency of the available social protection mechanisms. Only a
fruitful interplay between these actors and different forms of social protection mechanisms can
effectively change the miserable living conditions, by which people living in the South have to cope
daily.