Identifying Challenges and Collaboration Areas in Humanitarian Logistics: a Southern African Perspective

This paper discusses the challenges, difficulties and problems faced by humanitarian organisations in running logistics systems Worldwide in Africa and particularly in Southern Africa, with a focus on some systems in Zimbabwe. Mini-case studies of the operations of the World Food Programme, the International Red Cross Society and the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Children's Fund and the Zimbabwean Civil Protection Organisation in Zimbabwe are discussed. These clarify the challenges faced as the lack of trained logistics personnel, lack of access to specialised humanitarian logistics courses and research information, the difficulty in using and adapting existing logistics systems in attending to humanitarian logistics and the lack of collaborative efforts that address the area specifically. Though the focus is on operations in Zimbabwe and operations that include Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries, the work can benefit other regions in Africa and beyond. The findings aim to inform decision making and activities on collaborative networks that are beneficial to humanitarian logistics.