A humanitarian supply chain is a logistics and inventory system designed to deliver relief goods such as food, medicine, and emergency equipment to affected areas during natural disasters, conflicts, or humanitarian crises. Unlike commercial supply chains, the primary goal here is not profit, but timely and efficient delivery under highly uncertain and often chaotic conditions. Inventory management in humanitarian supply chains involves unique challenges: unpredictable demand, damaged infrastructure, urgent time frames, and coordination among multiple stakeholders including NGOs, governments, and military units. Prepositioned inventory at global or regional hubs, dynamic reallocation, and mobile warehousing are common strategies used to maintain responsiveness. Optimizing inventory in these scenarios demands real-time data sharing, flexible supply networks, and AI-driven forecasting tools that can respond to rapidly changing on-ground realities. Technology such as drone-based last-mile delivery and blockchain for transparent aid tracking is increasingly being explored. While humanitarian supply chains differ in purpose, many innovations here are influencing resilience strategies in commercial inventory optimization as well.
