DUSHANBE, TAJIKISTAN — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) recently joined local authorities in Isfara, a city in the Sughd Region in northern Tajikistan, to inaugurate a new bakery. The bakery is the sixth that the WFP has renovated and built in the region with funding from the Russian Federation.

The WFP said the bread baked at the bakeries is now part of school meals that benefit more than 90,000 primary schoolchildren across 270 schools supported by the WFP in the region.

“Thanks to the financial support of the Russian Federation, and in partnership with the Russian Social and Industrial Foodservice Institute, we are able to carry out the bakery construction and renovation,” said Hyun Ji (Angie) Lee, a representative with the WFP. “Advanced technology and new equipment mean bread can now be made faster, cheaper and of better quality. Investments like these not only contribute to children’s health and development, but also provide more jobs for local communities whose lives have been impacted by the current socio-economic challenges in the country.”

The WFP said it has built and renovated a total of eight bakeries across Tajikistan in partnership with the private sector, benefiting 114,000 primary schoolchildren in 340 schools. School feeding is the WFP’s largest operation in Tajikistan, supporting half a million young students in 2,000 schools across 52 rural districts and towns.