PurposeThe rising threat of tropical cyclones in Zimbabwe is of great importance in establishing the general sources of humanitarian supply chain risks and assessing their negative impact on relief operations. There is a scarcity of studies that collate such evidence toward enhanced humanitarian supply chains in Southern Africa. With this in mind, this study explored scattered evidence on supply chain risks in the delivery of humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Idai in Zimbabwe.Design/methodology/approachThis reflective study evaluates supply chain risks associated with Cyclone Idai humanitarian relief operations through qualitative in-depth interviews with relevant actors in the field. The data were triangulated with secondary information from associated publications, blogs and newspapers to reflect the truth about the phenomena under investigation.FindingsThe results show that Cyclone Idai disaster response operations were adversely affected by social, economic and political/governmental risk factors. In the same breath, poor or inadequate infrastructure and environmental factors were also contributing factors toward the futility of humanitarian relief operations.Practical implicationsThis study is significant as it endeavors to contribute toward humanitarian supply chain management, specifically in assisting humanitarian organizations with suggested strategies that would work toward making humanitarian relief supply chains more resilient. However, more research needs to be done toward optimized implementation strategies for the suggested framework.Originality/valueIt is to the best knowledge of these researchers that this is a unique study carried out to examine humanitarian supply chain risk factors in Cyclone Idai relief operations in Zimbabwe.

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Background: The increased frequency of occurrence and complexity of disasters, the world over, have called for increased cooperation amongst stakeholders to deliver humanitarian aid.Objectives: This study came as a result of the growing interest focussed on creating and implementing cooperation to facilitate management of supply chain-related activities in the humanitarian sector. This study therefore sought to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of supply chain cooperation in aid delivery performance variables, specifically in the context of Cyclone Idai humanitarian relief operations in Zimbabwe.Method: A pragmatic research paradigm was adopted, where the researchers took a mixed approach informed by both quantitative and qualitative research tools.Results: Findings of this study show a significant and positive impact of humanitarian supply chain (HSC) cooperation in achieving output, resource and flexibility performance in the delivery of aid. These findings will change the shape of humanitarian response to have more cooperation amongst organisations rather than responding as single entities.Conclusion: This study will therefore contribute to how humanitarian organisations improve their approach to future disasters through cooperation in their supply chain activities. Theoretically, the study will show how supply chain cooperation is key to humanitarian responses, thus improving effectiveness of HSC when put into practice. Policymakers can use these findings to develop a standard framework of how humanitarian organisations should collectively respond to disasters.

The world is increasingly witnessing food insecurity and deteriorating individual and global livelihoods. This study sought to assess the effectiveness of contract farming in the form of command farming in achieving sustainability of maize supply chain in Zimbabwe. A descriptive approach was adopted where a sample of 35 agricultural experts were randomly selected to respond to questionnaires. The researchers also relied on interviews with farmers, the results of which were triangulated with quantitative data to improve the dependability of results. The study shows a positive and significant relationship between command farming and sustainability of the maize supply chain in Mazowe district of Zimbabwe. The study, therefore, recommends the government to invest more in command agriculture to improve productivity and sustainability in the maize sector. It further recommends investment in joint contract farming with agricultural firms and government to improve farming business to sustain the country’s agricultural sector.

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