Maximizing Food Aid Supply Chain Cost Effectiveness Workshop Report

The project is driven by the priorities, mission, and mandate of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)/Office of Food for Peace (FFP) to increase efficiency and maximize USAID/FFP's ability to provide assistance. The FAQR project has developed an interactive decision support tool that informs the selection of more cost-effective specialized nutritious food aid products. The tool is targeted to food aid program officers tasked with the selection of specialized nutritious food aid products for nutrition programming purposes. The tool's development is motivated by a need to compare cost-effectiveness of alternative products for addressing specific food aid issues. The web-based tool uses recent historical data on program costs and program impact assessments from the literature to compare the cost and cost-effectiveness of alternative specialized nutritious food aid products. The tool has three types of input: demand for a specialized nutritious food aid product, related cost parameters including procurement and logistics costs, and nutritional effectiveness parameters. The output is a side-by-side comparison of products among all cost and nutritional effectiveness dimensions considered. The FAQR project is also developing a supply chain optimization tool based on the current operations of the USAID/FFP supply chain. The tool aims to aid stakeholders in making decisions that deliver the right commodity with the right volume to the right place at the right time in a cost-effective way. The tool identifies the optimal choices in transfer modality, prepositioning levels, procurement, ocean transportation, and inland transportation for satisfying predetermined demand. The four tools detailed in the report are: the FAQR Decision Support Tool for cost-effectiveness calculation, the FAQR Commodity Supply Chain Optimization Tool, the World Food Programme's Optimus System, and the World Vision Last Mile Mobile Solutions. These tools are designed to improve predictive modeling and programmatic decision-making in the food aid value chain. The availability of data has been the biggest challenge in the tool's development, as well as the usability of the tool, which will require sustained data updates. The FAQR team has drawn data and evidence from USAID, World Food Programme (WFP), United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), and scientific and programmatic literature. Continued availability of data will be a key factor in the tool's future growth, especially data related to nutritious impacts. The tools presented in the report offer insight into the future strategies for maximizing food aid supply chain cost-effectiveness. The FAQR project's efforts aim to enhance cost-effectiveness, particularly of the ongoing and emergency food aid supply chains, to deliver the right product to the right people at the right time for the right price/cost and reach the desired impact for a beneficiary population. The report highlights the importance of innovative tools in improving predictive modeling and programmatic decision-making in the food aid value chain. The tools presented in the report demonstrate the potential for maximizing food aid supply chain cost-effectiveness and improving the efficiency of food aid programs.