Developing efficient supply chain management tools to reinforce the pillars of food security

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As of 2020, over 800 million people still live with chronic hunger. The situation is no better in Canada; one out of seven Canadian households faces food insecurity. On the other hand, the global food systems produce sufficient amounts to feed 10 billion people, %129 of the world population. There is an evident supply-demand mismatch in today's food value chains. Indeed, food insecurity is mainly caused by the inefficiencies in the food supply chain rather than the lack of food availability. The main goal of this research program is to alleviate these inefficiencies in commercial and non-profit food distribution systems by developing state-of-the-art supply chain optimization models. Achieving zero hunger is one of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Food security can be established based on three pillars: availability, accessibility, and utilization. Availability means the physical existence of food in a given region. Accessibility refers to the conditions when people can purchase an adequate amount and quality of food. Utilization means the available and accessible food is consumed efficiently and without being wasted. Most people facing hunger are affected by the disruptions to food accessibility and utilization. To establish accessibility, aid agencies annually deliver millions of tonnes of food. However, these organizations operate with the limited budget provided by donors. Up to 80% of food aid budgets are spent on logistics, and the United Nations World Food Programme can only satisfy about 10% of worldwide demand. On the utilization front, billions of metric tonnes of food are wasted in the commercial sector. The proposed research program has three short-term objectives (i) develop predictive demand and supply disruption estimation models based on decision-trees for food aid distribution programs; (ii) develop data-driven beneficiary classification models and use these models in more targeted food aid programs; and (iii) assess the impact of disruptive technologies on retail-level food waste reduction. Accurate supply and demand disruption estimation can prevent the occurrence and severance of acute hunger crises. The developed algorithms will enable aid organizations such as United Nations' World Food Programme, World Vision, Action Against Hunger, as well as national and local safety net programs to position their supply chains better before the next hunger crisis hit, rather than waiting for it to happen and then collecting the demand information. Furthermore, consolidating aid programs through harmonization will significantly reduce the logistics burden of aid agencies. Reducing food waste through disruptive technologies has direct revenue implications on food retailers, food distributors, and the overall community well-being.