We bring life-saving relief in emergencies and use food assistance to build peace stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict disasters and the impact of climate change bringing life-saving assistance in emergencies and supporting sustainable and resilient livelihoods to achieve a world with zero hunger We work in over 120 countries and territories combining emergency assistance with long-term development while adapting our activities to the context and challenges of each location and its people There is a variety of ways in which people can support WFP’s mission to eliminate hunger from making a donation to bringing your expertise to our work on the frontlines Nataliia opens the door with a smile. We step into a small bread-cooling area. Amid the warmth of ovens and the smell of freshly baked bread, shelves are packed floor to ceiling with cooling loaves. Once wrapped, these will be distributed to villages on the front line by the World Food Programme (WFP) and its partners the family-owned bakery in the small village of Veselynove is a much-loved institution looking back at three years of full-scale war With suppliers from neighbouring areas “blocked by military forces” “our bakery was the sole bread provider to our district.” “It was just the two of us baking over 1,000 loaves a day We were terrified of getting hit [by artillery] in the bakery or on our way home from work.” After the Ukrainian army regained control of nearby territories in March 2022 fighting continued but moved to more distant areas While Veselynove was safer than the front lines many residents and those from nearby towns fled to more prosperous regions for work and safety as job opportunities remained scarce orders were significantly reduced – and so were wages The bakery was on the verge of shutting down WFP started working with the bakery to provide food assistance in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions Regular orders of 4,000 loaves per week from WFP helped the business stay afloat and retain its employees (The organization is currently delivering food assistance to more than 1.5 million people in frontline regions of Ukraine each month.) Nataliia moved to Veselynove in the fall of that year to take a job with the bakery “There were no jobs in my village,” she says She takes us through the meticulous bread-making process Bakers then carefully divide and shape the dough into loaves load them onto baking sheets and transfer them to a special proofing cabinet to rise further the loaves go into the oven until they come out with a golden crust “We don’t use any chemical additives – just salt WFP’s partnership with small bakeries in frontline regions helps sustain small businesses while ensuring Ukrainians continue to find one of their most cherished staples: khlib “When we listen to families who receive our assistance fluffy loaves are particularly comforting in a time of war,” says Gerd Buta Head of In-kind food assistance programmes for WFP Ukraine “Bread belongs on every Ukrainian table – few meals go without it.” Nadiia holds her young grandson by the hand while waiting to collect a food box and fresh bread over 130,000 loaves of their bread have been delivered to frontline areas of the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions the Veselynove bakery plans to expand and open new more spacious facilities to scale up its production “We’re happy that we can help people,” says Svitlana WFP has distributed over 74 million loaves of bread in frontline regions of Ukraine over the past three years WFP currently distributes more than 1 million loaves each month Sixty per cent of these are sourced from 18 small and medium-sized bakeries like the Veselynove bakery – helping to keep the local economy alive in areas most affected by the war