Bosnia - Bread of Life Assistance Project

Lead Member: Mennonite Central Committee Canada
Country: Bosnia
Region: Town of Prijedor and surrounding areas
Implementing Partners: Bread of Life - Prijedor
Vulnerability: Moderate
Duration: 12 months
File Number: 1751
Food/Inputs: Flour, rice, pasta, beans, oil, sugar (jam, salt, spice, etc.); vegetables, fruit, fish, etc; seed distribution(Note: 1 mt = 1,000 kg or 2,204 lb)
Budget: $139,327
Program Description:
This project has been divided into three components and will work through Bread of Life (BoL) in the town of Prijedor.
Project #1 - BoL is providing a food basket to vulnerable families who are still struggling to cope with the effects of the war. It includes small-scale, year-round distribution to elderly people and large families. This project will end in August 2003.

Project #2 - BoL is distributing food, cows, ewes and farm implements to five clusters of villages so that they will be able to become self-sufficient. A large number of refugees and other displaced persons have attempted to return to their pre-war homes. The region's infrastructure and economy has not yet recovered. Unemployment is extremely high with unofficial reports of approxomatley 90%. Families share what they have with eachother. Families who will be able to establish themselves could easily become food self-sufficient.

Project #3 - BoL will distribute fruit and vegetable seeds to 1,500 individuals so that they will be able to grow their own produce during the summer and fall of 2003.
Beneficiaries, Vulnerability, and Targeting:
Project #1
  • 400 households - elderly and disabled persons
  • 200 families - families with more than 4 children
  • 400 families - minority returnee families
  • 50 families - families with urgent needs
  • 80 families - patients at the Prijedor hospital
  • 35 families - support to hospital workers

Project #2
  • 200 households (5 per hhld)

Project #3
  • 300 households (5 per hhld)
Program Impacts:
The overall purpose of the project is to provide the most vulnerable portion of the population with regular access to food. These programs will:
  • provide regular access to food for beneficiaries
  • improve nutritional status of children, the sick and elderly
  • all returnees to become re-established
Other Comments and Issues:
Bread of Life is a local church-based agency which was created in response to the needs of refugees and displaced persons during the civil war in the early 1990s. Mennonite Central Committee has been supporting the work of Bread of Life for a number of years. Food assistance program is one aspect of this support.


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