System dynamics approach for food inventory policy assessment in a humanitarian supply chain

Abstract

In a humanitarian context, disaster relief operations handle in-kind donations and supplies required to assist the affected population. Among the most challenging operations in disaster relief is food aid supply, particularly in long-lasting humanitarian assistance. Food aid supply requires the design of inventory optimization methods adapted to disaster relief contexts to tackle over-stock, significant wastage levels, shortage, and protocols to distribute non-perishable items, such as canned tuna and rice, among others. This is due to the uncertain and changing conditions of disaster relief operations. In addition, most humanitarian food supply chains are unable to handle perishable products because of the lack of resources needed to perform the required logistic operations, respecting product shelf-life constraints. This study evaluated the capability of different humanitarian food supply chain configurations to distribute perishable products, such as vegetables and fresh meat, which can be obtained in agronomic-based economies, and can aid in providing the means for food distribution as well as the likelihood of fulfilling social and cultural aid based on the characteristics of the population. Consequently, a dynamic system model was proposed for comparing centralized and decentralized supply chain configurations. Further, the experimental results, considering a natural disaster in Colombia, facilitated the evaluation of the sensitivity of the system’s key performance indicators in humanitarian logistics in terms of agility, recovery time, and efficiency in specific echelons. Furthermore, this study provides managerial insights to help humanitarian agencies design inventory management strategies for food assistance programs during relief operations in the aftermath of a disaster