This is particularly true of PWPs, where, too often, programmes provide only short-term, periodic employment of a month or so. Programmes that demonstrate the most substantial effects on food security are those that run for decades, not years or months. Social protection programmes can certainly contribute to shock response, but they can only buffer households against emerging shocks if they are already in place. Too often, agencies deal with this complexity by incorporating too many objectives into a single programme, rather than working in a co-ordinated and cross-sectoral way.