LocationsOn World Food Day, celebrating the alchemy of flour, water, yeast and salt
Bread is life
October 15, 2025
More than just sustenance, bread, in its many and varied forms, holds a sacred and symbolic place in the world's religions and cultures.
Photo: UNDP Moldova
Bread has long been deeply entwined with what it means to be human. Neolithic people began combining and cooking wild grains and water about 14,000 years ago, 4,000 years before the advent of agriculture.
In its hundreds of permutations, from injera to pita to baguettes, naan, tortillas and arepas, bread is a potent symbol of life, fellowship and community.
Bread was used as currency in ancient Egypt, it strictly defined social status in medieval Europe and has shaped history.
Ancient Romans called spelt (Triticum spelta) “the marching grain” for its nutritious, high protein content, ideal for feeding armies on the move. Unjust bread prices were one of the main flashpoints of the French Revolution of 1789.
Yet bread represents far more than just sustenance. It holds a sacred place in many of the world’s religions and cultures as a marker of fertility and renewal.
On World Food Day, we recognize the people who make bread, and in doing so feed their communities and keep our ancient heritage and traditions alive, while adapting to changing and challenging times.
Moldova
Ivan Cernicenko opened ‘Ivan's Bread’, six years ago in Tiraspol, southern Moldova. Every product is made with great care, using only natural ingredients.
The regional crises of recent years had brought Ivan close to giving up several times. Financial support and mentoring from the European Union and UNDP have given him the resources and impetus to carry on.
A high-performance oven, a refrigerator for cold fermentation and a proofer have allowed him to launch a new line of yeast- and gluten-free products to cater to the rising demands of new customers.
"The European Union's funding is a huge help, without which I would not have been able to modernize my production process on my own," he says.
Ivan Cernicenko opened ‘Ivan's Bread’ in Tiraspol, southern Moldova. Support from the European Union and UNDP has enabled him to upgrade his equipment and expand his product range.
Photo: UNDP Moldova
'Ivan's Bread' bakery is constantly innovating in response to demand from his clients for greater yeast- and gluten-free options.
Photo: UNDP Moldova
"Our bread is delicious. It has its own aroma, its own taste, which store-bought bread does not have."- Ivan Cernicenko
Syria
From pita to tannour to marouk, the sweet bread usually associated with the holy month of Ramadan, bread plays an integral role in Syrian society and culture.
And in Al Hasakeh, northeastern Syria, tradition has been the cornerstone of the bakery that three friends, Hawas, Maher and Mansour opened in defiance of food insecurity, economic instability and falling local wheat production.
With families to feed and supply chain issues to wrestle with, Hawas, Maher and Mansour have found new impetus for their bakery through support from UNDP and the Government of Japan.
“We learned everything we need to know about starting and running a business. With the equipment and rent secured through the project, we were good to go,” says Maher.
Thirty-three bakeries are also being renovated and equipped in Syria through a new UNDP initiative with support from the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Centre. The US$5 million project which is increasing bread production from 265 to 473 tonnes per day, will directly benefit around 1.4 million people in eight of Syria’s 14 governorates, particularly areas with high concentrations of internally displaced persons, returnees, and vulnerable populations.
Left to right: Mansour, Ahmad, Maher and Hawas display the products of their work in their bakery in Al Hasakeh, northeastern Syria.
Photo: UNDP Syria/Duha Alibrahim
Maher and Hawas put the finishing touches to traditional Syrian pies prior to baking. Their business has received start-up support from UNDP and the Government of Japan.
Photo: UNDP Syria/Duha Alibrahim
"I have been working in bakeries for five years now. It is not easy, but I do it for my family."- Maher
Cuba
Cuban bread, or pan Cubano, is similar to a French or Italian loaf. Ideal for sandwiches, it often contains lard which gives its crumb a rich, dense texture.
But most of Cuba’s wheat is imported, and its products can contain gluten, which is not digestible for some people.
Gabriel Pérez, who farms just outside the Guanabacoa neighbourhood of Havana, has responded by experimenting with artisanal flours made from rice, cassava, plantain and coconut. His work is supported with equipment and supplies by UNDP and the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.
Gabriel and his team fill a vital gap in the market and his high-quality, fine-grained flours are widely sought after by both people with celiac disease and those who appreciate good food.
Gabriel also sees the by-products of his work as another way to contribute to his community.
“We support by sharing the resources we generate on our small farm. We donate coconut oil to treat burns, and cassava starch for baby leg rashes. We create jobs, and we share our knowledge,” he says.
Gabriel Pérez, who farms just outside the Guanabacoa neighbourhood of Havana, develops artisanal flours made from rice, cassava, plantain and coconut.
Photo: UNDP Cuba
Gabriel fills a vital gap in the market and his high-quality, fine-grained flours are widely sought after.
Photo: UNDP Cuba
“For us, being good neighbours is our priority."- Gabriel Pérez
Honduras
In the small bakery in the Ojojona region of Honduras, community leader Evelyn Cerrato Gonzáles and her co-workers transform flour into delicious semitas, a sweet, sugar coated bread, as well as buns and cookies.
The women have also learned community organization and management skills, which they put into practice in their bakery, and in maintaining and protecting the forests that surround them, ensuring the wood their ovens use is sustainably harvested.
The project is supported by UNDP and the Secretariat of Natural Resources and Environment with financing from the Adaptation Fund.
"Before, we depended on the man. If he didn't bring in food for the home, then we couldn't do anything. This initiative is very important for us because we can now contribute to the family, and as women, we are independent; if we need something, we know where to get it from," Evelyn says.
A small women-operated bakery in the Ojojona region of Honduras sells a wide variety of breads and cakes and its owners maintain the surrounding forest, and fuel source, sustainably.
Photo: UNDP Honduras
Women in the Ojojona region of Honduras have learned to transform flour into delicious semitas, buns, cookies and other delicacies which they sell to their neighbours.
Photo: UNDP Honduras
“[This bakery initiative] has helped us a lot in this community, since this is a place where there is no employment for men or women. Men work in agriculture and that helps them; but as a woman, you don't have any options where you can financially support your family.”- Evelyn Cerrato Gonzáles
Ukraine
Paska is a sweetened egg and yeast bread made especially for Easter, the biggest religious holiday in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Soul of Soil project is reclaiming de-mined land and using it to once again grow wheat in what is still one of the world’s largest wheat-producing countries.
Kateryna Ohuryaeva is Marketing Director of Silpo retail chain, which bakes its own bread every day and runs Easter bread making master classes. She understands the value of Ukrainian grain, grown despite the war.
“This is our way of saying to the people who are bringing life back to the de-occupied territories: we know, we appreciate, and we are immensely grateful,” she says.
Sweet and eggy, Ukrainian Easter bread, known as paska, is of central importance to Ukrainian's most significant religious holiday.
Photo: UNDP Ukraine
Ukrainians are reclaiming de-mined land to once again grow and export wheat, despite conflict.
Photo: UNDP Ukraine
“With the help of Easter bread-making master classes, we want to tell our guests—not through texts and numbers, but through a shared experience—about the true value of bread made from flour from de-mined fields.”- Kateryna Ohuryaeva
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