Many policies have proved to be successful in fighting seasonal hunger. In this paper, we review what we regard as the most important of these policy ideas and give examples of their application in various countries, focusing particularly on Malawi.Emergency assistance measures are targeted at people who are suffering from seasonal hunger and need immediate help. The social protection safety net attempts to prevent families from falling into hunger in the first place, through a mix 2 of employment, nutrition, price control and other policies. Agricultural livelihoods development initiatives focus on improving productivity through better access to key inputs, and thus try to work towards a future where rural households have high enough (and stable enough) incomes that the social protection safety net will rarely need to be accessed.