Specific objective: The capacities of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in five African countries are enhanced to contribute effectively to local and national food security policy formulation which recognise and capitalise on the potential of pro-poor and local innovations.

By the end of the project, CSOs at both community/district with support from their national level counterparts will help ensure that local realities are incorporated into national level food security policies and plans to more effectively achieve improved access to food for vulnerable households in rural communities. They will do this by building alliances at the local and national level, develop local food security plans through inclusive and participatory processes, influence key policy processes to incorporate all or parts of the food security plans into local and/or national government policy, and pilot local food security plans in selected communities, with lessons learned feeding into policy influencing processes and back into the design of the project.