Lebanon’s ongoing economic crisis continues to place immense pressure on livelihoods. Rising costs, limited job opportunities, and fragile markets have left farmers, youth, and small businesses struggling to sustain income and plan ahead. For many households, this has meant shifting from long-term planning to short-term survival strategies.
Launched in 2025, the Skills and Innovation for Labour Advancement (SILA) programme addresses these challenges by focusing on a simple but critical principle: skills are most effective when they are practical, relevant, and aligned with real market conditions and responsive to how people actually access work and income in their local context. This includes close engagement with private sector actors to ensure that skills development reflects real industry needs, standards, and opportunities.
These results were achieved through collaboration with training providers, local partners, and private sector companies that contributed to shaping and delivering market-relevant services.
Rather than focusing on training or inputs alone, SILA works across market systems. This means looking at how skills, services, businesses, and local actors interact, and addressing the gaps that prevent people from turning knowledge into income. In practice, trainings are connected to real opportunities, services respond to actual needs, and different actors in the system reinforce rather than operate in isolation. In 2025, this approach guided how the programme worked with farmers, youth, training providers, and private companies who played an active role in shaping training content, standards, and market linkages to strengthen the conditions around livelihoods, not just individual skills.
In 2025, SILA supported smallholder farmers facing rising feed costs, climate pressures, and declining productivity. Agricultural activities were implemented in partnership with IZRAA for the programme’s first year, and with Relief International for a specific 12‑day training programme on fodder production and livestock management.
Rather than focusing on material support, the approach prioritised practical knowledge, improved decision‑making, and financial awareness. This approach reflects a deliberate shift away from short-term assistance toward building skills that can be applied and adapted over time.
Hani Ibrahim: rebuilding confidence on a family farm in Akkar
For years, Hani Ibrahim worked his family’s small dairy and crop farm in rural Akkar using inherited practices. But as prices rose and weather patterns shifted, experience alone was no longer enough.
Through SILA’s agricultural training, Hani learned how to select crops according to soil type, mix feed formulas adapted to each animal, and track expenses and production. One of the first techniques he applied was an improved feed formulation, which quickly led to noticeable increases in milk production.
“Now I know exactly where I’m going, what I spend, and what I earn,” he said. Recordkeeping became part of his daily routine, helping him reduce losses and plan ahead. Beyond the technical gains, Hani highlighted the supportive learning environment and close relationship with trainers, which strengthened his confidence to apply what he learned.
Abir Ibrahim: achieving success by tackling obstacles
In the hillside village of Rmaah, Abir Ibrahim manages a small family farm that is her household’s only source of income. Despite years of experience, rising feed prices and low milk yields made it increasingly difficult to sustain production.
Before joining the SILA training, Abir relied entirely on inherited practices, using the same feed mixture for all animals. “Everything we were doing was backward,” she explained.
The training introduced her to seed selection, seasonal planning, and differentiated feed mixtures based on each animal’s needs. After adjusting protein sources and tailoring feed formulas, milk production increased from 20–22 kilograms to 25–30 kilograms per day.
Learning to track production costs also changed how she priced her products, helping her avoid selling at a loss. More importantly, the training restored her confidence. “Now we understand what we are doing and why,” she said.
In both cases, improved recordkeeping and decision-making marked a shift toward more structured and economically informed farm management.
In construction, SILA focused on youth who had theoretical education but limited exposure to real market demands. In 2025, construction activities and sector‑specific training were implemented in partnership with The Nawaya Network, with a strong emphasis on aligning skills with employer expectations. This was achieved through structured collaboration with private sector companies, who contributed to training delivery, introduced industry tools and materials, and helped bridge the gap between education and employment.
Salman: from potential to profession
For Salman, an interior design student, graduation brought uncertainty. While academically trained, he lacked practical exposure to the construction market.
Through SILA’s Sector‑Specific Training (SST) programme, Salman developed both technical and soft skills, including project organisation, professional communication, and financial awareness. These skills are critical in helping young people navigate not only technical tasks, but also workplace expectations and client interactions.
Specialised sessions with companies such as Intertectra and Colortek introduced him to modern construction materials and techniques, while training in professional software tools such as Revit and Lumion strengthened his ability to visualise and present designs. As a result, Salman earned recognised certifications and expanded his professional network. These interactions provided direct exposure to industry practices and expectations, strengthening the link between training and real employment pathways.
SILA’s first year demonstrates that skills development works best when it is connected to real market conditions. A key lesson is the importance of positioning the different actors, including the private sector not only as an informant or an employer, but as an active partner in shaping skills, defining quality standards, and supporting access to opportunities. Across agriculture and construction, participants gained clarity, confidence, and the ability to make informed decisions, in addition to technical skills.At the same time, the first year confirms that translating skills into income takes time, particularly in fragile economic contexts where opportunities remain limited.
These lessons will guide the programme as it continues to strengthen livelihoods and economic resilience in Lebanon, with an increasing focus on deepening stakeholder engagement to ensure sustainable, market-driven impact.
These changes, while incremental, are critical building blocks for longer-term economic resilience.
This project is part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, which is co‑financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.