Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of humanitarian logistics (HL) that aims to identify trends and suggest some directions for future research. Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper develops a research framework for literature review through qualitative and quantitative content analysis. First, previous literature reviews in HL are updated and detailed. Then, seven classification criteria are added to earlier ones in order to advance the literature analysis. Findings – The conclusions identify some literature gaps and research opportunities. The main conclusions are the need for more studies into the disaster recovery phase and the need for closer relationships between academia and humanitarian organizations to increase the number of applied research. Research limitations/implications – The literature is limited to academic peer-reviewed journals because of their academic relevance, accessibility, and ease of searching. Practical implications – Help potential researchers to set up a research agenda for future work. Social implications – Reinforce earlier calls to increase truly applied research and improve social impact of the field. Originality/value – In total, 228 papers that were published in the HL area are reviewed, giving rise to the most extensive literature review in this area. New dimensions for literature review in HL are proposed, which give some new insights into potential research directions.

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Panic buying and hoarding express common human behavior in times of crisis. Early in COVID-19, as the pandemic crisis intensified, toilet paper was one of the emblematic cases of panic buying. Using a Geographic Information System (GIS) to cross official per capita income data and real toilet paper transactions obtained from groceries spread around the city of São Paulo (Brazil), this study compares sales levels during the period in which panic purchases took place to the sales levels off that period. As expected, that data disclose noticeable panic buying. Regression analysis reveals that there is a significant positive correlation between average income per capita and panic buying. The results also indicate that panic buying happens in every income class, including low-income ones and contribute to enhancing the understanding of demand behavior during periods of crisis.

A intensidade de ocorrência de desastres naturais no mundo tem aumentado nas últimas décadas e tende a continuar aumentando de forma considerável, como consequência de fatores como o aumento populacional e a ocupação do solo, associados ao processo de urbanização e industrialização. Nas áreas rurais, esses fatores se devem a desmatamentos, queimadas, compactação dos solos e assoreamento dos rios. Nas áreas urbanas, à impermeabilização dos solos, adensamento das construções, conservação de calor e poluição do ar .Segundo Natarajarathinam et al. (2009), os desastres são eventos súbitos e inesperados ou lentos, caracterizados por atingir uma determinada região causando danos econômicos, sociais e ambientais e podendo resultar em mortos e feridos. Por tratar-se de eventos não facilmente administráveis por procedimentos rotineiros, verifica-se a necessidade de atuação conjunta de entidades como, órgãos governamentais, setores privados, agências humanitárias e comunidades, em ações preventivas de regiões vulneráveis a desastres. Os desastres podem ser derivados de causas naturais (inundações, secas, terremotos, furacões e fome) ou podem ser pro-Resumo: Desastres têm sido cada vez mais frequentes no mundo, atingindo populações residentes de áreas urbanas e rurais e provocando danos de ordem material e imaterial. A gestão de operações em desastres e, em especial, a logística humanitária são fundamentais para minimizar o sofrimento das vítimas afetadas em todas as fases dos desastres. O presente artigo busca identificar as contribuições acadêmicas nacionais sobre gestão de desastres e logística de operações humanitárias, através de uma revisão da literatura brasileira e de uma comparação com os resultados obtidos na revisão da literatura internacional realizada por Peres et al. (2012), com o intuito de identificar os desafios e oportunidades de pesquisas. DOI:10.4237/transportes.v21i3.633.Palavras-chave: revisão da literatura, desastres naturais, logística humanitária, gestão de operações em desastres, operações de socorro a desastres. Abstract:Disasters have been frequent in the world, hitting urban and rural populations and causing both material and immaterial damages. Disaster operations management and, in particular, humanitarian logistics are crucial to minimize victim suffering in all phases of disasters. This paper aims to identify the national academic contributions on disaster management and humanitarian logistics operations by reviewing the Brazilian literature and by comparing its results with those obtained in an international literature review conducted by Peres et al. (2012). The goal is to identify challenges and research opportunities.Keywords: literature review, natural disasters, humanitarian logistics, disaster operations management, disaster relief operations.

This paper provides a framework to analyze the maturity of humanitarian logistics systems to face crisis situations related to recurrent events, and thus to identify the main areas of action and the community needs in terms of crisis logistics planning. First, the main notions of humanitarian logistics systems planning, and the theoretical contribution of maturity models are presented. Second, a maturity model for humanitarian logistics systems is proposed and the main categories of elements defining maturity extracted from literature. Then, the methodology to define the main elements of the maturity model via evidence is presented. This methodology combines a literature overview, a documentary analysis, and the development of three case studies, two located in Colombia and one in Peru. The main elements that characterize capability maturity model in humanitarian logistics systems facing recurrent crises are identified, from which the administration of donations, design of a distribution network, and the choice of suppliers are highlighted. The practical implications of the framework are proposed to allow its use to anticipate humanitarian logistics system for future crises. The framework allowed a first analysis guide and will be further extended.

The epidemics and pandemics can severely affect food supply chains, including producers, retailers, wholesalers, and customers. To minimize their impacts, it is fundamental to implement effective policies that ensure continuity in the provision, affordability, and distribution of basic food items. This research identifies the main impacts of pandemics and epidemics on food supply chains and policies that can minimize these impacts. Based on a systematic literature review (SLR), 173 documents are analysed to propose a taxonomy of impacts on four supply chain links: demand-side, supply-side, logistics and infrastructure, and management and operation. The taxonomy presents the main impacts and respective mitigation policies. In addition, the literature review leads to the development of a comprehensive causal loop diagram (CLD) with the identification of main variables and their relationship with food supply chains. Finally, a specific research agenda is proposed by identifying the main research gaps. These findings provide a structured method for evaluating policies that ensure the functioning of food supply chains, particularly in disruptions such as epidemics and pandemics.

Paper aims: Considering that disaster preparedness is essential for a prompt and effective response, this paper presents a study to locate disaster relief supplies.Originality: This paper marks the first time a multi-criteria stochastic methodology addresses humanitarian location problems. Research method:We propose a multi methodology approach that employs an optimization model and a multi-criteria decision analysis. Based on logistics costs and penalties assigned for unmet demand, a stochastic model minimizes the total operational cost of opening distribution centers for pre-positioning disaster relief supplies. As decisions in humanitarian operations have multiple criteria and small differences in costs may not be significant by considering other criteria, we perform an analysis of the stochastic model solutions through Multi-criteria Decision Analysis. Main findings:The findings show that the stochastics model leads to good results in uncertainty accommodation and that the consideration of qualitative and quantitative criteria improves decisions in humanitarian operations, especially when the supplies available are not enough to meet all the demand requirements.

PurposeThis study, a practice forum article, aims to presents the lessons learned and the development of a discrete event simulation model to support the funerary system management of São Paulo City, Brazil, during the COVID-19 pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA discrete event simulation model was developed by the authors as soon as the pandemic affected the city of São Paulo, Brazil. Based on the model, several scenarios with varying minimum, median and peak demands (i.e. the number of deaths) were tested and evaluated. The lessons learned from the scenario analysis and implementation of the decision-making of the city government of São Paulo are discussed in this article.FindingsThe lessons learned about the coordination, inventory management and other operational characteristics in funerary logistics during the pandemic are shared with a model, which quantifies the demand for vehicles, coffins, graves and teams in the cemeteries in different simulated scenarios.Practical implicationsThe São Paulo State Civil Defense used this information during the pandemic to prepare the funerary system of the municipality.Social implicationsThe study presents methods to mitigate the sanitary, environmental and psychosocial problems related to the funerary system.Originality/valueStudies on funerary systems are scarce. This study presents the results that supported the dimensioning of the funerary system during the pandemic and operational lessons about the logistics to support decision-making in future events.