The majority of the rural population in developing countries sustains their livelihoods through small-scale family farming on subsistence level. However, agricultural productivity is far from its potential and food insecurity and high absolute poverty rates are widespread challenges in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA), including Mozambique. Global actors, such as the World Bank (WB), frequently publish policy guidelines, strategy papers and reports, all aiming at tackling the focal problem of low agricultural productivity and claiming to be dedicated to the overall goal of economic, social, inclusive and sustainable development. But as agricultural productivity rates in many developing countries remain low, and food insecurity rates have been high for several decades, the adequacy of global policy guidelines for local structures, conditions and needs is questionable. The aim of this study is therefore to analyze the suitability of and identify possible discrepancies between global strategies – that claim to raise agricultural productivity and food security – and the local level. A strong emphasis is placed on a people-centered, local grassroots perspective. To gather data, a five-week field study in Lago District, Mozambique, was carried out, following an abductive approach and using semi-structured interviews on household level, and with a variety of other stakeholders from the public and private sector. The Logical Framework Approach was applied to structure the findings from the WB report and from the field work, with the aim to create a basis for the analysis and comparison of that data, which provides an answer to the research problem of the suitability of global policies on local level. Additional analytical guidance is provided by the concept of human security and a gender perspective. Conclusions from the study demonstrate that the neoliberal point of departure and the different understandings of small-scale farming underlying the problem and objective of (low) agricultural productivity rates identified by the WB, are not coherent in comparison to the local situation identified in Lago District. The development interventions suggested by the WB rather tend to be an obstacle for sustainable rural and agricultural development, as well as local food security/sovereignty, poverty alleviation and inclusive economic growth in the context of Lago District.