Research project Food and drinking water supply in times of war: Drawing lessons from Ukraine and Poland
Between 2023 and 2025, Stockholm University, commissioned by the Swedish Food Agency, conducted a project to explore how the food and drinking water supply systems in Ukraine and Poland were impacted by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The project is led by Karina Shyrokykh, a docent in international relations. The focus of the study is on areas that hosted large numbers of refugees, analyzing both immediate and long-term challenges in securing basic supplies under crisis conditions.
Through interviews with key stakeholders, the project identifies challenges, successful strategies, and structural gaps in crisis preparedness and response. The experiences from four key cities: Lviv and Uzhhorod in Ukraine and Rzeszów and Kraków in Poland provide crucial insights into how systems coped under extreme turbulence. The project aims to inform Sweden’s efforts to build a resilient food and water supply system as part of its broader civil defense strategy. By drawing concrete lessons from the war in Ukraine, the study also delivers policy recommendations to strengthen coordination, legal frameworks, and supply chain resilience in Sweden.
Project members
Project managers
Karina Shyrokykh
Associate Professor
