Abstract
In Africa, the state is not the biggest responder to poverty and social vulnerability. While international attention has searched for state remedies to state shortfalls, the poor themselves have taken a different route. They have improvised, organized, delivered, and governed their social protection (SP) services using grassroots mechanisms without state support. Based on empirical studies in 30 districts in six African countries, this paper makes the case that the highly localized models may not be perfect but are probably the best fit for implementing an all-encompassing SP policy in Africa. The challenge for policy will be to harness this potential – not by trying to turn grassroots organizations into something they are not, but by supporting what they already are.