Agriculture and Livelihoods

The NAFS programme aims to support long-term sustainable livelihoods in the agricultural sector in Syria with a focus on the resilience and stabilization of farmers and the rural community. The LNAs showed that agriculture is a key sector for early economic recovery and social cohesion in the post-conflict period. Historically, agriculture has played a pivotal role in sustaining the livelihoods of Syrians and was one of the biggest sectors in the Syrian Arab Republic in terms of gross domestic product. Before the conflict, the country had an important agro-food industry. It was self-sufficient, food secure and a net exporter of many food products to the Arab region and beyond.

NAFS is developing post-conflict agriculture restoration plans at the governorate level to facilitate the early recovery of livelihoods, rehabilitate agricultural assets, upgrade value chains, create employment, improve food security, and increase farmers’ income and resilience to shocks. Additionally, field-based case studies on refugees are being conducted in host countries so as to understand the impact of agriculture and livelihood programming on hosting communities and Syrian refugees under protracted forced displacement. Evidence-based policy recommendations are produced to inform current and prospective decision-making processes and contribute to early recovery in the Syrian Arab Republic and in host countries. NAFS is also facilitating a series of dialogues and developing background papers on capacity needs assessment and responsive policies to promote integrated and cross-sectoral approaches to agriculture recovery using water-energy- food and environment linkages under a changing climate.