Agriculture based livelihood support for vulnerable families. The proposed project seeks to improve the livelihood situation of 980  households (4,838 individuals) through livestock and agricultural support in Jebel Saman and Idleb Districts of Aleppo and Idleb Governorates. The project is developed based on the primary need assessment conducted through focus group discussions and key informant interviews in seven  communities including Toum, Bennsh, Foah, Atareb, Kafr Aleppo, Kafr Naseh Elatareb and Arada.  

Islamic Relief will conduct a detailed household level need assessment to identify, 300 families to provide with agricultural input ( winter) including chick peas and pea green seeds, fertilizers, insecticide and fungicides. These families will be provided with on going technical support to improve their knowledge and practices to get best yield each planting season. The estimated yield will be sufficient to cover the food needs of the household and any excess can be sold in the market to create income generation. The direct recipient of Agriculture support will be 150 men and 150 women. 

680 families will be provided with locally procured mature EWE sheep. Each targeted household will be provided with 2 pregnant EWE sheep. The sheep will be vaccinated to prevent them from prevailing diseases (Enterotoxaemia,and foot and mouth disease). Also to protect the sheep pesticide will be sprayed and to improve the overall health vitamins  will be provided.  During the gestation period the sheep will be provided monthly feed for two months. This will be the winter period when the feed is most expensive.  The expected milk production is sufficient to cover the household diary needs and any excess can be sold in the market to contribute to the income. The direct recipient of this component will be 340 men and 340 women. 

Both beneficiary groups (livestock and agriculture) will continue to receive follow-up advice and training over the course of the project from field project team hired for this purpose. it is anticipated that this improved knowledge will be shared by the direct beneficiaries with their relatives, PEER and friends living in the close by area. hence the knowledge transfer will help to improve the agriculture based livelihood practices for the other community members also.

Given the particular sensitivities related to women engaging in project activities a careful weighing of the risks associated with providing such support will be undertaken to ensure that no harm comes to beneficiaries or field staff. The project will seek to prioritize women and those with disabilities by tailoring the support provided, in an effort to better respond to their specific needs and concerns. 

The project will target both the IDP  and host population so that the social tensions among the two groups are minimized and equal opportunities are provided to help the extremely vulnerable families to stand on their own feet and build a culture of resilience. 

IR will implement cluster proposed sector integration strategy whereby the highly food insecure households will be prioritized under this project for support and where possible will be provided support through seasonal food distribution (from IR sources(Ramadan and Qurbani) as protection rations.

As part of exit strategy, all relevant stakeholders will be informed about project closure. Lesson learnt from the implementation will be shared with FSL cluster members to improve the quality of the programmes. it is anticipated that the intervention results will continue after the project closure hence the results achieved will be sustainable. As with the agriculture and livestock inputs and improved knowledge the targeted households will continue their cycle of securing household food and income generation after the project closure. 

The proposed project is part of FSL cluster HRP 2019 with the code HSYR19-FSC-156418-1. The Gender and Age Marker code for this project is 4 (M).