Food subsidies have often been used by governments to help the poor, though many nations have either voluntarily, or under pressure from aid donating countries actually removed these subsidies.
Mozambique recently reintroduced food subsidies after deadly protests resulted from fuel and food price hikes.
However, on their own, food subsidies may not help in the longer term if additional policies to help the poor get out of poverty are not in place, as Save the Children in Mozambique says in this video.