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

截至2020年，仍有超过8亿人长期处于饥饿状态。加拿大的情况也好不到哪里去；每七个加拿大家庭中就有一个面临粮食不安全问题。另一方面，全球粮食系统生产的粮食足以养活100亿人，占世界人口的129%。如今的食品价值链存在明显的供需错配。事实上，粮食不安全的主要原因是粮食供应链效率低下，而不是缺乏粮食供应。这项研究计划的主要目标是通过开发最先进的供应链优化模型来缓解商业和非营利性食品分销系统中的这些低效率。实现零饥饿是联合国17个可持续发展目标之一。粮食安全可以建立在三个支柱的基础上：可获得性、可及性和利用率。可获得性意味着食品在特定地区的实际存在。可获得性是指人们能够购买足够数量和质量的食物的条件。利用是指可获得和可获得的食物被有效地消费而不被浪费。大多数面临饥饿的人受到粮食获取和利用中断的影响。为了建立可获得性，援助机构每年提供数百万吨食物。然而，这些组织利用捐助者提供的有限预算开展业务。高达80%的粮食援助预算用于物流，联合国世界粮食计划署只能满足全球约10%的需求。在利用方面，数十亿公吨的食品被浪费在商业部门。拟议的研究计划有三个短期目标：(I)为食品援助分配计划开发基于决策树的预测需求和供应中断估计模型；(Ii)开发数据驱动的受益者分类模型，并将这些模型用于更有针对性的食品援助计划；以及(Iii)评估颠覆性技术对零售层面减少食品浪费的影响。准确的供应和需求中断估计可以防止严重饥饿危机的发生和恶化。开发的算法将使联合国世界粮食计划署、世界宣明会、反饥饿行动以及国家和地方安全网计划等援助组织能够在下一次饥饿危机来袭之前更好地定位其供应链，而不是等待它发生然后收集需求信息。此外，通过协调统一援助计划将大大减轻援助机构的后勤负担。通过颠覆性技术减少食物浪费对食品零售商、食品分销商和整个社区的福祉有直接的收入影响。

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.