Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

The human and economic impacts of both man-made and natural disasters have been increasing in recent years. Climate change, growing populations, political conflicts and transportation-related accidents, among others, are putting ever more people at risk. The hazardous nature of disasters and the complex network of organizations participating in both disaster relief operations and humanitarian development projects give rise to many challenges in supply chain management. Network design and transportation issues lie at the heart of some of the most important problems faced in the field of humanitarian logistics. These problems are characterized by numerous sources of uncertainty, by the conflicting objectives of several stakeholders and by context-specific side constraints which differ from those encountered in commercial contexts. The aim of this research program is to embed such aspects within state-of-the-art models and to develop sustainable and resilient solution approaches to mitigate the consequences of disasters. To this end, I propose different methodologies derived from operations research and econometrics and I apply them to three classes of problems: food aid network design, relief transportation capacity management, and donation management in relief supply chains. From a theoretical perspective, none of the problems presented in this proposal has yet to be addressed in the literature and many of them are conceptually novel. Developing solution approaches to solve these problems will yield innovative methodologies and will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in the fields of operations research and humanitarian logistics. From a practical perspective, the proposed research program is driven by real-life challenges encountered during relief operations. Working alongside well-established organizations during the realization of this research program will stimulate knowledge mobilization and technological transfer, which will yield sustainable solution approaches. According to the United Nations, hunger and malnutrition pose the largest risks to worldwide health. Some developing countries constantly suffer from widespread chronic food insecurity. The first research area of this program is dedicated to an important class of problems for palliating food insecurity: food aid network design. The objective of this area is to develop robust solutions that cope with uncertainty and that integrate market mechanisms while considering local purchase and cash-based transfer programs. The second area of research relates to transportation capacity management, a significant issue in last-mile relief distribution. It focuses on the formulation of representative stochastic relief routing models and on the development of econometric models to facilitate transportation procurement. Finally, humanitarian organizations operate with limited resources which depend primarily on donations. It is therefore crucial for these organizations to effectively design their supply chain and transportation plans in order to reach as many affected people as possible during crises. The third area of research therefore addresses both network design and vehicle routing problems with leverage opportunities and donation constraints. It aims to assess the operational and service quality gains resulting from better management of uncertain donations.