SROI analysis and evaluation of the project aimed at contrasting food crises in Syria

Title Document analysis, SROI Assessment and Final External Evaluation of the project “ Istidamah – Providing Innovative Solutions to Strengthen Community Resilience in Syria”
Location Syrian Arab Republic
Duration January 2025 – August 2026
Lead partner Oxfam Italia Onlus
Funding European Commission

Contesto
The overall objective of the Istidamah project is to increase systemic resilience to food crises and climate change in Syria by pursuing the following results:

  • Increased sustainable production and productivity in agriculture and livestock farming through the reconstruction or provision of rural infrastructure, including the rehabilitation of irrigation systems and the provision of access to inputs, tools and equipment.
  • Strengthening rural diversification through the provision of marketing services to project beneficiaries (farmers, producer groups, associations, cooperatives) with a value chain approach, particularly in the dairy, fodder and feed, cereals, fruit and vegetable sectors.
  • Greater application of learning, innovation and improved technologies in food and nutrition security (FNS) and sustainable agriculture (SA) through the development of specific skills for project beneficiaries, such as sustainable agricultural practices, resilience to climate change, sustainable land and water management, processing techniques and the provision of an updated system with data and statistics on various topics (market, nutrition, food security, resilience, production) available at the intervention level.

Istidamah – Providing Innovative Solutions to Strengthen Community Resilience in Syria is a 36-month project funded by the European Union and implemented by Oxfam from March 2023 to February 2026. Oxfam has submitted a request for a no-cost extension of project activities until August 2026 and is awaiting an official response from the donor. The intervention is being implemented in Syria in the governorates of Deir Ez Zor and Rural Damascus. Oxfam’s initiative aims to contribute to Syria’s recovery by strengthening a people-centred approach and supporting the improvement of social cohesion in line with the ‘Reform, Recovery and Reconstruction Framework’ (3RF).

General objective
ARCO was involved by Oxfam in the project to provide consultancy services about three interrelated activities: an analysis of the value chains for cereals, fruit and vegetables, animal feed and fodder, and dairy products; a social impact assessment using the SROI (Social Return on Investment) methodology of one of the 4 value chains previously analysed and a final external evaluation of the project.

Our contribution
The Local Development and the Social Economy &Sustainability Management Units research team will analyse the four value chains identified to provide the project team with a descriptive document that includes a detailed profile of the supply chains themselves in the two governorates concerned – Deir Ez Zor and Rural Damascus – the main results of the documentary analysis and strategic recommendations.

The Social Return On Investment (SROI) assessment will focus specifically on one selected value chain in one of the two target areas to assess the project’s contribution to livelihoods, local economies, the environment and community resilience in a post-war context. In particular, the SROI analysis aims to understand the social value generated by the project, quantifying the financial and non-financial results it has helped to create and providing Oxfam staff with consistent information that will be useful for designing future interventions.

In parallel, the final external evaluation will provide an analysis of the relevance, coherence, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability of the project, with insights into the quality of the design, implementation and expected and unexpected results. ARCO will adopt an integrated and consistent methodological approach, using tools shared across the various activities and combining document analysis, participatory methods and qualitative and quantitative data collection, optimising time and resources.

The SROI analysis and final external evaluation will be completed between August and September 2026.