In addressing generalized poverty, social protection strategies have taken a promotive approach whereby strategies are extended to arenas such as strengthening the production capabilities of the poor. This approach emphasizes the design of public actions for helping people to manage risk and adversity, but also contributes to larger policy objectives of economic growth and poverty reduction. Adopting this approach, this research explored the conditions under which development grants work as a promotive social protection measure to transform the livelihood capacities of poor households, using ten groups of women supported by the Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) as a case study.