Australia trims cash for world's hungry

Australia has trimmed support for the world's hungry.

The federal government will direct $167.5 million over the next four years to the World Food Program, down from its previous contribution of $180 million.

A large chunk of the money would be used to provide food and emergency supplies to natural disaster survivors in the Indo-Pacific region, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Friday.

Funding will also go towards school feeding programs to encourage education enrolment especially among girls.

World Food Program executive director Ertharin Cousin played down Australia's reduced contribution saying it wasn't significant.

She praised Australia's leadership in focusing the world's attention on the plight of cyclone-prone and climate change vulnerable Pacific island nations.

In the past Australia had also chipped in extra cash for natural disasters and emergencies, she said.

Ms Cousin said overall contributions from donor countries to her organisation were increasing but were not keeping pace with increased demand for assistance.

The gap was more than $1 billion last year despite a record fundraising effort.

Ms Cousin said the agency had never been called on to support so many crises simultaneously, on top of its mission to strive for zero world hunger, stamp out malnutrition and improve food security.

The program fed 80 million people from 82 countries in 2014.

Ms Cousin was briefly in Australia on Friday before travelling to Indonesia.

This week she attended the World Humanitarian Summit's Pacific regional meeting in New Zealand, along with Ms Bishop, where disaster preparation was a major focus.

One of the key messages she took away was that the international community in responding to natural disasters needed to be more receptive to local leadership.

"Historically we have not listened enough," Ms Cousin told AAP in Canberra.

Kiribati President Anote Tong told her of his people's fears that their island homes will soon be washed away.

"We can't go home and let the people of the world forget about Kiribati," Ms Cousin said.

WORLD FOOD PROGRAM STATS:

* Fed 60,000 people across 19 Vanuatu islands in the wake of Cyclone Pam

* Fed 80 million people in 82 countries last year

* Overall funding in 2014 - US$5.59 billion

* Australia to give $A167.5 million over next four years towards fighting hunger in the Asia Pacific region, $12.5 million less than the previous allocation.

* In 2014, Australia was ranked sixth out of 40 on the WFP's list of donor contributions.