Preparedness in humanitarian supply chains

Disasters, whether catastrophic or recurring, present profound challenges to humanitarian logistics and supply chain systems. Effective preparedness is vital to saving lives and restoring livelihoods, yet it remains underexplored in many contexts, particularly in Africa and across countries with differing levels of development. This cumulative dissertation addresses this gap through three interrelated studies that examine preparedness across both high-impact, low-frequency (HILF) disasters and highfrequency, low-impact (HFLI) interventions. It further introduces the Context Capacity × Event Type Matrix, a synthesis framework that distinguishes preparedness pathways in developed and developing systems. The first study maps the landscape of supply chain and humanitarian logistics research in Africa from 2017 to 2022. It identifies imbalances in coverage, with a strong concentration on health-related studies and little research on preparedness. The second study investigates preparedness in the context of cataract surgery camps in Namibia and Tanzania. These camps are conceptualized as deliberate HFLI events, offering modular, repeatable models for community-based healthcare delivery. Using expert interviews, the research identifies seven antecedents of socialecological resilience, emphasising the importance of local ownership, ecological awareness, and institutional partnerships. The third study applies a comparative case study of earthquake preparedness in Japan and Pakistan. By testing a standardised evaluation framework across these divergent national contexts, the research reveals both transferable best practices and context-specific limitations. Japan’s institutionalized preparedness is contrasted with Pakistan’s resource-constrained environment, highlighting opportunities for policy adaptation and international learning. Taken together, these studies provide actionable insights for humanitarian practitioners and policymakers. They demonstrate that preparedness strategies for HILF and HFLI events can inform one another: cataract camps exemplify how modular and communitybased interventions enhance resilience, while earthquake case studies highlight the necessity of robust governance and systemic planning. The inclusion of the Context Capacity × Event Type Matrix underscores how event characteristics and national development levels jointly shape preparedness.