The impact of psychosocial support on well-being and agency within an inclusive livelihood programme

After 7 years of a multifaceted conflict, effective humanitarian assistance for people living in Syria is vital. This action research explores the extent to which psychosocial support (PSS) impacts the well-being and agency of Syrian farmers benefitting from livelihood. Our methodology used a baseline and endline survey towards a target population of households receiving agricultural inputs, with both an experimental and control group. Five dimensions of well-being were considered: emotional, social, economic, skills and knowledge and overall feeling. The key findings are: A stand-alone livelihood programme does in fact have a positive impact on psychosocial well-being; An integrated PSS and livelihood programme, as expected, has a positive impact on psychosocial well-being; There is larger comparative impact of an integrated PSS-livelihood programme compared to a stand-alone livelihood programme for beneficiaries; We learned that compared to those without disabilities, beneficiaries with disabilities experienced a larger benefit from PSS. These results strongly suggest that an integrated approach providing PSS alongside livelihood interventions has added-value for vulnerable persons to restore their resilience. The results of this pilot study would need to be confirmed by a larger scale study to validate the findings.