Australia is partnering with the World Food Programme (WFP) and Brazil to pre-position more than 11,000 tonnes of food to prepare for natural hazards and combat food insecurity for an estimated 640 000 people in Central America.
Australia's contribution of $2 million in April 2012 enabled WFP to begin positioning 5,000 tonnes of food in warehouses close to vulnerable populations in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua.
These countries are regularly affected by disasters such as tropical storms, floods and droughts which do not attract high profile humanitarian responses. Nonetheless, the repetitive and cumulative destruction of crops and damage to productive land have caused significant levels of under-nutrition and economic hardship.
Through a process known as 'twinning', Australia will cover the associated costs of transporting and storing food provided by Brazil through the WFP's protracted relief and recovery operation for Central America.
The practice of twinning enables swift positioning of supplies and allows for a greater volume of food to be positioned to assist those in need when a disaster strikes.
So far, the partnership between Australia and Brazil has benefitted more than 440,000 people through the distribution of 6,200 tonnes of food (corn, rice and beans). Up to 5,000 tonnes of food are expected to be pre-positioned later in 2012 to benefit a further 200 000 people in food-insecure regions.
This latest contribution takes Australia's total contribution to WFP for this partnership to $4.5 million.
Since 2009, Australia has provided over $18 million in emergency relief and humanitarian assistance after natural disasters in the region.