This chapter in "Beyond relief: food security in protracted crises" describes the impact of the conflict in Sudan on the Nuba Mountains population and how a partnership between donors, agencies and local stakeholders, based on principles of engagement, resulted in coordinated efforts to address the key determinants of the conflict and food insecurity.

Particular attention is paid to the principles of engagement and the ‘political humanitarianism’ of NMPACT to illustrate how it broke away from the traditional externally driven responses to food insecurity towards an approach that focused on capacity building, sustainable agriculture and market revitalization, alongside conflict transformation and peace-building. Successes, limitations and challenges are distilled to provide lessons for possible replication in other complex emergency contexts.