Leveraging Partnerships with Logistics Service Providers in Humanitarian Supply Chains by Blockchain-based Smart Contracts

As humanitarian organizations are struggling to reach an increasing number of beneficiaries, humanitarian-business partnerships, such as the use of logistics service providers (LSPs), promise to improve effectivity and efficiency of humanitarian assistance. Blockchain-based smart contracts which ensure automation, transparency, and efficiency promise to facilitate partnerships, particularly if trust is low. In this paper, blockchain-based smart contracts are critically examined for their application to humanitarian supply chains (HSCs). We identify various adoption barriers which we categorize into organizational, technological, and environmental. As the use of blockchain-based smart contracts in HSCs is in its early stages, we propose future research propositions and directions that can provide insights into overcoming barriers and challenges of adopting the technology in the humanitarian sector.