This initiative on strengthening policy engagement capacity to improve food security was a three-year project from 2013 to 2016. Funded by the European Union, it was implemented jointly by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Tanzania Natural Resource Forum (TNRF) in Longido District in northern Tanzania. The district was chosen given the severe state of food insecurity amongst the pastoral communities residing there, as determined by a study. Longido District is a semi-arid district lying in the northern part of Tanzania bordering Kenya. The annual rainfall ranges from 450 to 500 mm per annum with an average temperature of 240 C to 270 C. Majority of the inhabitants are pastoral and agro-pastoral communities whose main livelihood is livestock-keeping. Few on the western part of the district practice crop farming to supplement livestock-keeping.