A Review of the USAID/BHA Food Aid Commodity Incident Management Business Process

The Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA) is realigning staff responsibilities and core capabilities to modernize and support business processes and logistics to deliver food and other supplies seamlessly in humanitarian response and development activities. One component is a long-term, multi-pronged effort to build a commodity tracking system that can trace products from producer to consumer. This will be supported by a data-driven interactive Intelligent Dashboard for United States Government (USG) staff and stakeholders to monitor commodities along the supply chain in real-time and track the status of any incident that occurs. The BHA requested the Tufts University-led Food Aid Quality Review (FAQR) project to examine its commodity incident reporting business process to inform a more efficient and effective incident resolution system in the short run, while USAID puts in place longer term end-to-end traceability and visibility solutions. The analysis draws on evidence from 26 incidents reported to BHA from October 2018 to July 2020 and best practices in food incident management from BHA's supply chain partners. Food assistance commodities range from bulk grains and fortified vegetable oil to packaged pulses, fortified milled grains and blended flours, to specialized nutritious foods (SNF). Each commodity has vulnerabilities across the supply chain. While reported losses are extremely rare, at less than 1 percent for U.S.-sourced food, the public health risks can be high, particularly in vulnerable beneficiaries. Reported incidents may not reflect the full picture across the humanitarian supply chain. Mitigating risk through traceability, data-driven platforms, and food incident management requires interagency cooperation between USAID/BHA and USDA, the major supplier of U.S.-sourced Title II commodities. The current commodity incident reporting system and tools used by BHA include the Loss and Damage Reporting System, USAID LDFSQ Commodity Incident Investigation and Feedback Reporting, and USAID Losses and Damages - Staff Roles And Responsibilities. However, these systems have limitations and do not provide real-time tracking and visibility of commodities along the supply chain. To address these limitations, the FAQR project recommends a modern BHA/USAID commodity incident management system that incorporates best practices in food incident management from BHA's supply chain partners. The proposed system will include a data-driven interactive Intelligent Dashboard for USG staff and stakeholders to monitor commodities along the supply chain in real-time and track the status of any incident that occurs. The system will also include a systematic review of food aid complaints, FY 2019 through June FY 2020, to identify trends and patterns in commodity incidents. The proposed system will require interagency cooperation between USAID/BHA and USDA to ensure that all stakeholders have access to real-time information and can respond quickly to any incidents that occur. The system will also require ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure that it is effective in mitigating risk and improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the humanitarian supply chain. The FAQR project recommends that USAID/BHA operationalize the proposed commodity incident management system by establishing a clear governance structure, defining roles and responsibilities, and developing a comprehensive training program for staff. The project also recommends that USAID/BHA work with USDA to develop a comprehensive commodity tracking system that can trace products from producer to consumer. In conclusion, the proposed commodity incident management system will provide USAID/BHA with a more efficient and effective way to manage commodity incidents and mitigate risk. The system will require interagency cooperation between USAID/BHA and USDA and ongoing monitoring and evaluation to ensure that it is effective in improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the humanitarian supply chain.