Welfare

Register for ANH Learning Lab: Conducting Impact Evaluations in Conflict Settings

As part of the ANH Academy Week, ISDC is hosting a Learning Lab on ‘Conducting Rigorous Impact Evaluations of Food Systems Interventions in Humanitarian Emergencies and Conflict-Affected Settings.’ Session Description Many consider Rigorous Impact Evaluations (RIEs) to be the gold standard in evaluating interventions. We agree. However, various methodological, ethical, and practical challenges to conducting […]

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Systematic review on the impacts of agricultural interventions on food security and nutrition in complex humanitarian emergency settings

Complex humanitarian emergencies are a main driver of food and nutritional insecurity. Agricultural interventions are key to improving nutrition and food security, and their positive impacts are well-documented in stable developing countries. However, it is unclear if their positive effects on food security hold in complex emergency settings, too. In this paper, we systematically review […]

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Dorothee Weiffen and Wolfgang Stojetz present at CSAE Conference 2024

Every year, the Centre for the Study of African Economies (CSAE) hosts a conference brings together actors from across the development economics community to present and discuss research on Africa. This year, ISDC was represented by Behavior Research Program Director Wolfgang Stojetz and Dorothee Weiffen from our Welfare Research Program. Each presented a research paper […]

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Isabella Urbano-Trujillo

Isabella is a Research Assistant in the Welfare Research Program at ISDC. Her interests include gender equity, violent conflict, and welfare in developing contexts. She is currently enrolled in the Master’s program Data Science for Public Policy at the Hertie School in Germany and holds a BA in Economics from the Javeriana University in Colombia. […]

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Effect of an Integrated School Garden and Home Garden Intervention on Anemia Among School-Aged Children in Nepal: Evidence From a Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial

The effects of agricultural and nutritional support programs on health are not fully understood. This article looks at school and home gardens, which are gaining attention in the research and development community, but evidence for their effects is limited, particularly for lower-income countries. We examine whether a joint school and home garden program improves blood […]

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Do Work Permits Work? The Impacts of Formal Labor Market Integration of Syrian Refugees in Jordan

The integration of refugees into host countries’ formal labor markets is increasingly recommended as a durable solution to forced migration. Yet, this policy response is a contentious political topic with little empirical evidence, especially in low- and middle-income host countries available to support policy. This article examines the impacts of integrating Syrian refugees into Jordan’s […]

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Home garden interventions in crisis and emergency settings

Homes gardens are a key source of food security and micronutrient-rich fruits and vegetables and are promoted by aid organizations to help households cope in humanitarian emergencies. However, there is a strong divide between the popularity of home gardens among practitioners and the academic evidence of its nutritional, economic, social and political outcomes. This review […]

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Baseline Report: Impact Analysis of the FAO Sudan CERF Project

The agricultural sector in Sudan is grappling with multiple challenges, including unpredictable rainfall patterns, outbreaks of pests and diseases, limited access to agricultural inputs, irrigation difficulties and, more recently, the onset of violence. Insufficient harvests result in food shortages and insecurity. In light of these circumstances, FAO Sudan provided emergency support to over 350,000 households […]

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How to conduct impact evaluations in humanitarian and conflict settings

Methodological, ethical and practical challenges make it difficult to use experimental and rigorous quasi-experimental approaches to conduct impact evaluations in humanitarian emergencies and conflict settings (HECS). This paper discusses recent developments in the design, measurement, data and analysis of impact evaluations that can overcome these challenges and provide concrete examples from our recent research where […]

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Conducting (Long-term) Impact Evaluations in Humanitarian and Conflict Settings: Evidence from a complex agricultural intervention in Syria

The number of vulnerable people in humanitarian emergencies worldwide is increasing due to the rising frequency and intensity of risk exposure. At the same time, most interventions in humanitarian emergency and conflict settings (HECS) are short-term in nature, as if people only require temporary help to overcome adversity. Yet there is an acute scarcity of […]

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Monitoring and Impact Analysis of the EU-Funded Smallholder Support Programme (SSP) for Agriculture Transformation

FAO Syria is implementing the “Smallholder Support Programme” (SSP). The main objective of this programme is to contribute to the transformation of the agriculture sector in Syria by empowering vulnerable smallholder farmers and livestock keepers to be more productive, efficient and profitable as well as more informed, self-organised and risk aware. Two year after programme […]

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Violent conflict moderates food security impacts of agricultural asset transfers in Syria: A heterogeneity analysis using machine learning

Agricultural interventions are one of the key policy tools to strengthen the food security of households living in conflict settings. Yet, given the complex nature of conflict-affected settings, existing theories of change might not hold, leading to misinterpretation of the significance and magnitude of these impacts. How contextual factors, including exposure to conflict intensity, shape […]

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Conducting Rigorous Impact Evaluations in Humanitarian Emergencies and Conflict Settings: A Research-to-Practice Training Workshop

Many consider Rigorous Impact Evaluations (RIEs) to be the gold standard in evaluating interventions. We agree. However, various methodological, ethical, and practical challenges to conducting RIEs in Humanitarian Emergencies and Conflict Settings (HECS) have raised questions about how well traditional RIE methods are well-suited to such settings.  ISDC – International Security and Development Center has […]

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Webinar: The impact of agricultural interventions in Syria

Do agricultural interventions have a positive impact on food security and nutrition in conflict settings? Since 2020, under the SEEDS project, ISDC – International Security and Development Center and the American University of Beirut have used multi-disciplinary novel methods to study the short- and long-term impacts of complex agricultural interventions in Syria. In this webinar, […]

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Anticipating the impact of armed conflict on human development

Project Background Armed conflict reverses human development, yet its full impact remains poorly understood due to fragmented research across disciplines. This multidisciplinary project integrates economics, epidemiology, political science, and conflict studies to assess conflict’s effects on economies, health, and political institutions, using a risk-analysis framework to model hazard, exposure, and vulnerability while expanding early-warning systems […]

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Melodie Al Daccache

Melodie Al Daccache is a Researcher in the Welfare Research Program at ISDC and a PhD candidate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. Her research focuses on food security, livelihoods, women’s health, and gender equity in crisis-affected settings. Her methodological area of expertise includes quasi-experimental impact evaluations, quantitative statistical analysis, and micro-level data collection. Melodie has […]

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