KINGSTON, Jamaica — The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has intensified emergency food assistance across Jamaica, Cuba, and Haiti after Hurricane Melissa left a trail of destruction affecting nearly six million people in the Caribbean.
In coordination with national governments and regional partners, WFP has begun large-scale food distributions and cash transfers to meet urgent humanitarian needs, while additional relief shipments are en route from regional hubs.
In Jamaica, the storm hit the parish of St. Elizabeth — the country’s agricultural hub — particularly hard, destroying homes, farms, and infrastructure. “Many communities remain cut off and without power,” WFP said in a statement.
The agency has already distributed food kits containing rice, lentils, canned meat, and vegetable oil to 1,500 affected residents, with 2,000 kits airlifted from Barbados and more shipments planned this week.
To support relief operations, WFP has deployed logistics equipment, including forklifts, containers, and pallets, in coastal and inland areas such as Black River.
The agency plans to assist up to 200,000 people in Jamaica through a combination of food aid and cash transfers.
In Cuba, widespread flooding, power outages, and crop losses have left hundreds of thousands vulnerable. Working with the Cuban government, WFP prepositioned food stocks sufficient for 275,000 people ahead of the storm.
Distributions have already reached 181,000 evacuees in shelters. Over the next three months, WFP aims to reach 900,000 people in need of emergency food assistance, with half expected to require continued support beyond that period.
In Haiti, the southern coastline bore the brunt of the hurricane, with homes and infrastructure swept away. Ahead of the disaster, WFP disbursed anticipatory payments worth US$900,000 to 50,000 people and sent safety messages to 2.5 million residents.
As families begin returning home from shelters, they are receiving two-week food rations and one-month cash stipends to rebuild their lives and support local markets. So far, 12,700 people have received emergency food assistance, with plans to scale up to 190,000 beneficiaries.
Regional logistics and partnerships have been crucial to the response. Supplies are being coordinated through the WFP Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub in Barbados and the UN Humanitarian Response Depot (UNHRD) in Panama.
French and Dutch naval vessels, supported by the European Union, are transporting aid to Jamaica, while the U.S. is providing air transport to reach isolated areas. The EU’s humanitarian agency, ECHO, will also fund an airbridge operation to deliver supplies for shelter, health, and logistics needs.
To sustain relief operations, WFP has launched an urgent US$74 million appeal to assist up to 1.1 million people and coordinate regional logistics and telecommunications. Governments, private partners, and individuals have begun pledging donations to the effort.
The agency credited early preparedness measures — funded by the UN Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), ECHO, the United States, Canada, and Ireland — for reducing casualties and enabling faster recovery. “These efforts demonstrate how early warning and prepositioning save lives,” WFP said.
