New Caribbean logistics hub boosts disaster response ahead of hurricane season

BRIDGETOWN – The United Nations World Food Programme today joined the Government of Barbados and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) to inaugurate the Caribbean’s newest disaster preparedness and response hub.

The Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub, inaugurated just ahead of the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, will store and dispatch critical relief items to affected communities in case of a disaster. The hub’s strategic location at the Grantley Adams International Airport and proximity to the main highway and port facilities will allow for both air and sea operations during an emergency response.

The Hon. Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, Executive Director, CDEMA, Elizabeth Riley, and WFP Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean Lola Castro officially opened the new facility.

 “This hub is about saving lives. This is about getting food and critical supplies, including pharmaceuticals to persons within 48-72 hours of a major disaster. It isn’t only limited to emergency responses for disaster, it is also going to be for humanitarian crises,” said Mottley.

The hub comprises a large fully enclosed warehouse and outdoor container park with space for up to forty, twenty-foot shipping containers. Additionally, the compound provides adequate space for consolidating equipment before shipping. The hub comprises of 2,500 square metres of covered storage space, 1,300 racked pallets and approximately 1,600sqm of open storage space.

“Having seen how devastating hurricanes and other hazards can be in the Caribbean, we are proud to have this Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in place,” said Castro. “WFP works with partners in the region and globally to enhance national response mechanisms to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of disaster response in order to save lives.”

Through collaboration with CDEMA, the Government of Barbados and other key stakeholders, plans are in place to expand the facility. The next phase, the establishment of a Centre of Excellence, will see the development of greater emergency response knowledge, skills and expertise in the region, through specialized training programmes.

“Recent geopolitical shifts have disrupted traditional support streams for humanitarian action highlighting the high-risk exposure of our system. The CDEMA system must now re-double efforts towards greater self-reliance, further deepen national capacity, enhance regional cooperation, and embrace new and non-traditional partnerships”, said Riley. “The hub supports this. It offers the infrastructure to pre-position high-demand emergency supplies.”

While still under construction, the hub proved to be essential to the response to Hurricane Beryl in 2024.

The construction of the hub was made possible through vital partnerships with the Government of Canada, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, the European Union, the United States and the World Food Program USA.

The United Nations World Food Programme is the world’s largest humanitarian organization saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate change.

This story was first published by WFP.