Seeds of Resilience: A Quasi-experimental Impact Analysis of an FAO Emergency Intervention in Syria

Farmers, farming systems and the entire agriculture sector in Syria are presented with extremely adverse conditions as a consequence of the violent conflict. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) seeks to mitigate the resulting immediate and mid-term challenges in the “Supporting emergency needs, early recovery and longer-term resilience in Syria agriculture sector” program, a 32-month initiative funded by the United Kingdom’s Department for International Development (DFID). By increasing farmers’ access to productive assets and improving the enabling environment, the program seeks to stimulate smallholder agricultural production, increase access to food and income (especially for the most vulnerable households), and build resilience to shocks.

ISDC supports FAO in two ways: First, we advise FAO on how to collect survey data from a sample of beneficiaries and non-beneficiaries before and after the program. Second, we use the survey data to test the short- and medium-term impacts of the program on a set of outcomes, including food security measures and harmful livelihoods strategies.