Title: Impact of avian influenza in the Indian poultry industry: a supply chain risk perspective

Authors: Usha Mohan, N. Viswanadham, Prachi Trikha

Addresses: Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Hyderabad, Gachibowli, Central University PO, Hyderabad 500046, India. ' Centre for Global Logistics and Manufacturing Strategies, Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, India. ' Indian School of Business, Gachibowli, Hyderabad 500032, India

Abstract: In all the food supply chains around the world, the biggest risk that hits the supply chain is the procurement risk or the input risk. Due to the non-availability of track and trace mechanisms, mass culling or killing happens when detected. The |avian influenza| or |bird flu| threat during early 2006 in India had resulted in losses to the tune of over INR 2200 crores to the Indian poultry industry. Realising that this is more than a health care issue, we study the impact of the outbreak on entire poultry supply chain from a risk perspective. The poultry industry in India is largely characterised by supply chain inefficiencies and inadequate infrastructure. This paper aims to analyse the risks faced by the poultry supply chain in event of an epidemic by identifying risk factors, the losses/gains and mitigation strategies used by different players in the supply chain. Our conjecture is that the integrity of supply chain partners in reporting to their respective upstream/downstream players of the outbreak of disease is a crucial factor which needs to be monitored closely thus improving visibility in the supply chain and making it more resilient.

Keywords: avian influenza; supply chain risk; risk-trust hierarchy; poultry supply chains; India; supply chain management; SCM; avian flu; food supply chains; bird flu; procurement risk; disease outbreaks; risk assessment.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLSM.2009.021646

International Journal of Logistics Systems and Management, 2009 Vol.5 No.1/2, pp.89 - 105

Published online: 30 Nov 2008 *

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