Social protection systems aim to eradicate poverty but often only reach a minority of the poorest households. Those eligible for social protection are often vulnerable to climate impacts that risk driving them further into poverty. Mabote district, Mozambique, is susceptible to ‘slow onset’ climate shocks, particularly droughts, which exacerbate food insecurity. Social protection reaches just 15% of poor households there. The PRIORIZE Initiative (a three-year programme) worked at district level in Mabote district to align social protection with climate adaptation, adopting a variant of the ‘adaptive social protection’ approach — what we call ‘poverty-centred local adaptation’ (PCLA). This publication reflects on key learnings from the PRIORIZE Initiative and explores the way forward.