In July this year, the Institutional Nutrition Program implemented by the Lviv Agrarian Chamber in partnership with the UN World Food Program ended.
In the framework of this important humanitarian project, the Lviv Agrarian Chamber supplied long-term food products to institutions that take care of socially vulnerable categories of the population. From January 2024 to April 2025, almost 220 institutions in the Lviv and Ternopil regions received cereals, pasta, oil and flour on a monthly basis. These are shelters for IDPs, hospitals, hospices, psychoneurological and geriatric institutions, orphanages and rehabilitation centers.
The Lviv Agrarian Chamber continued the humanitarian program in 8 western regions of Ukraine. During June – July 2025, 129 institutions in Lviv, Volyn, Rivne, Khmelnytskyi, Ternopil, Chernivtsi, Ivano-Frankivsk and Zakarpattia regions received more than 180 metric tons of products. Unfortunately, in connection with the termination of the activities of the UN World Food Program in the west of Ukraine, this was the final distribution, as part of which the institutions received several months’ supply of products.
On July 29, the monitoring group of the Lviv Agrarian Chamber, consisting of the head of Ihor Vuytsyk, monitoring officer David Kravchenko, and regional coordinator Denys Vetrov, visited a number of social institutions in Khmelnytskyi region in order to assess the effectiveness of the aid provided and its impact on the functioning of institutions that take care of vulnerable categories of the population. LAP representatives visited the Medzhibiz Children’s Boarding Home, the Zyankovets Psychoneurological Boarding School and the Solotkovets Boarding House for the elderly and persons with disabilities. These institutions were not chosen by chance. Modern equipment for baking bread and a variety of muffins has been installed here, and the institutions fully provide their wards with fresh bread and sweet pastries. That is why they additionally received 3.5 tons of flour to meet the needs of their own bakeries.
Medzhibiz orphanage became a shelter for 76 internally displaced children from Kharkiv Oblast. Their psychiatric boarding school in the village of Oskil was destroyed during hostilities. Currently, the children have been in Medzhibozh for three years. This is a very picturesque area, located here the most valuable defense structure of Ukraine. It preserved the ruins of a church in the late Gothic style, memorial columns, a fortified rotunda chapel of the 17th century. The Medzhibiz castle is known for its rich history. The castle is located on a cape where the Southern Bug and Buzhok rivers merge, which led to its unique triangular shape. It is also called the “White Swan” because of its reflection in the waters of the rivers.
The monitoring group inspected the conditions of food storage, the kitchen and the dining room, and talked with the staff. The chief accountant Ms. Oksana noted the high quality of the received products and said that this is a significant help for their institution. “Children need high-quality and varied nutrition. Now, in the summer period, their diet should include fresh vegetables and fruits. The products provided under the Institutional Nutrition Program allow us to save money, which we direct to the purchase of vegetable and fruit products,” noted Ms. Oksana.
Zyankovetsky psychiatric boarding school has been operating for 63 years. It is located on the territory of an ancient manor estate, consists of three residential buildings, one of which is intended for the residence of internally displaced persons. The boarding school has 47 hectares of land at its disposal, which are used for farm operations. The employees of the boarding school grow fodder and take care of cows, pigs, horses and sheep, and the obtained products are used to feed the residents of the boarding school. Currently, there are 215 people in the institution, 32 of them are internally displaced persons from the Sumy region. The conditions for storing products are very good, the warehouse is equipped with all the necessary means of control. 80% of the institution’s financing comes from the regional budget, the rest – contributions from public and international organizations, including support from the UN World Food Program (WFP), which allows the boarding school to direct the saved funds to the purchase of other categories of products and clothing for residents.
Mrs. Natalya and chief accountant Galyna Dolzhenko talked about the organization of food and business activities. All products such as rolls, pizza, bread are prepared using flour obtained from WFP. The institution employs 91 people, most of whom live in the surrounding villages.
Solotkovets boarding house for elderly citizens and persons with disabilities provides care for 48 residents, 9 of whom are internally displaced persons from Donetsk, Zaporizhzhya regions and the city of Bakhmut. The director of the institution, Pavlo Podlisny, shared his experience of using the received resources. In particular, flour is actively used in the institution, and buns with poppy seeds and jam are baked from it. Residents of the boarding school note the softness and taste of the products, which add variety and taste to the daily diet.
Mr. Pavlo noted that with the help of the UN World Food Program (WFP) institutional feeding program, the institution saved more than 40 thousand hryvnias, which it used to provide the residents with the necessary clothes.
The UN World Food Program’s institutional feeding program was an important humanitarian project that contributed to the improvement of the standard of living of particularly vulnerable categories of the population during Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine. This is a significant help that reduced the burden on local budgets, contributed to the creation of decent living conditions in social institutions for all those in need, and it is a pity that this project has already ended. We are extremely grateful to the World Food Program of the United Nations for fruitful cooperation and we hope that similar social programs will return to the terpenes of the western regions of Ukraine, because people really need it,” Ihor Vuytsyk emphasized.
Source. Lviv Agrarian Chamber