Helen Mcdevitt

Ensuring a Functional Food Supply Chain in Emergency Situations: Understanding the Logistics Behind Food Aid Helen Mcdevitt

Humanitarian logistics is an emerging theme in the logistics industry and has been the subject of little research to date. In the course of a year, many different types of disaster hit various areas of the world, resulting in the need for an overall humanitarian response from countries around the globe to support the affected areas in dealing with the emergency situation itself and its aftereffects. This book examines one particular link involved in the supply chain, when responding to a disaster situation ? the food supply chain. When disaster hits, hunger often follows. The book starts with a brief examination of emergency situations and food aid in general. This is followed by an in-depth analysis of the food supply chain - how does the food supply chain currently operate, who is involved and what processes exist. Improvements that could be applied to this supply chain in general are then investigated, focusing in particular on their application to the food supply chain. Finally, the long-term potential for enhancing the performance of the food supply chain in the future is briefly examined.