Rwanda has a high rate of rural poverty, population density and pressures on its natural resource base. One government response has been a social protection intervention, the Vision 2020 Umurenge Programme (VUP). VUP provides ‘public works’ employment for members of extremely poor households with able‐bodied members, and ‘direct support’ cash transfers for poor households without members who can work. Many public works projects focus on environmental protection. VUP also promotes risk reduction activities related to food security and related health or nutrition issues. With increasing weather‐related hazards and possibly climate change, administrators recognise the need to ‘climate‐proof’ VUP in a manner that integrates social protection with disaster risk management, climate change adaptation and food security. This article highlights the potential for social protection policies and programmes in Rwanda to increase household and community resilience, by applying concepts of adaptive social protection and ‘no regrets’ approaches in a territorial context.