Development of the academic contribution to humanitarian logistics and supply chain management

Effective delivery of humanitarian aid is an issue that is becoming increasingly important as part of the overall response to disasters, not least as there is strong evidence that both natural and man-made disasters around the world are increasing in terms of their magnitude, frequency and impact (UN, 2006). For example, annual disasters in 2000-2004 were 55 per cent higher than between 1995 and 1999. The number of people affected by natural disasters has also increased, 33 per cent more between 2000 and 2004 compared to the 1995 to 1999 period (CRED, 2008). By the same token, the developing scenario of world food shortages that has started to appear in 2007-2008 is creating increasing demand for humanitarian relief and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has estimated that 100million extra people will require food aid in 2008 alone. Furthermore, as world stocks of major food commodities such as wheat, rice and soya continue to diminish, greater pressure will be put on aid supply chains as future emergencies arise. The scale of such increases underlines the importance of the increased attention that is being given to emergency relief response operations (IFRC, 2005; Fritz Institute, 2005; Balcik and Beamon, 2008).