Sourcing in humanitarian logistics: local, regional, and global approaches

Sourcing and procurement of materials and services is a vital part of humanitarian logistics. Humanitarian organisations tend to combine local sourcing and international approaches, resulting in considerable complexity. This paper establishes a better understanding of the factors that influence sourcing decisions in humanitarian supply chains. 38 semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals involved in both developmental and emergency humanitarian responses. Findings show that the philosophy of a particular humanitarian organisation has a considerable effect on their sourcing strategy, in addition to more practical issues such as local availability of goods and services, and quality control.