WFP activates Regional Logistics Hub to speed emergency assistance to Jamaica

UN WFP and partners pack and ship vital food and relief supplies from Barbados to Jamaica, where a team is on the ground, ready to support emergency response.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) is on the ground in Jamaica, coordinating with the government and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), to support with emergency logistics and telecommunications, supply chain, and food and cash assistance as required.  

Photo: © WFP

WFP and partners are packing 2,000 boxes of emergency food supplies in Barbados. They will be ready to be sent by air to Jamaica as soon as airports reopen there. The kits include oil, tuna, canned beef, lentils and rice, enough to feed families for several days.    

Also in Barbados, the WFP logistics team is supporting other United Nations agencies (IOM and UNICEF) with the humanitarian response by loading critical supplies - water purification kits, bedding, tarps, mattresses, solar lamps, hygiene kits, and forklifts - before shipping them by sea to Jamaica. These items were stored in the Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub led by WFP and the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA). The Hub was inaugurated this year to drastically reduced emergency response times in the region.  

Photo: © WFP

WFP has also partnered with the Government of Jamaica and the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, a sovereign insurance mechanism, to enable access to quick financial liquidity for vulnerable impacted households via national social protection systems, should the tropical cyclone policy for wind speed trigger.  

Building on the support provided during Hurricane Beryl in 2024, WFP continues to strengthen emergency preparedness and response in Jamaica. Over the past year, we’ve trained national teams in warehouse management, pre-positioned logistics assets including connectivity units, and supported the rollout of digitized household damage assessment forms across parish offices—ensuring faster, more coordinated response when it matters most.

In the aftermath of Beryl, over 14,000 affected people in Jamaica received WFP cash assistance to help them ensure their food security and rebuild their livelihoods.