Value Chain Management Strategies and Performance of Humanitarian Organizations

Abstract

Nairobi County in Kenya, like the rest of the world municipalities, has been prone to occurrence of disasters that have had significant impact on the lives of its citizens, ranging from natural to man-made disasters. Due to disasters advance effect, the International humanitarian organizations in Kenya remain key players in the emergency sector owing to their capacities to be able to quickly mobilize resources to meet the plights of populations that are affected by disasters, and to whom, the local government agencies are not been able to quickly respond to due to limited resources. Disasters all over the world are known for their serious ramifications on the societies and affects on social, economic and political bearings. As a result of this, Non Government Organizations (NGOs) grapple with delivering valuable aid in response to disasters situations, especially in Africa, where the operational context is fraught with undeveloped value chain systems making it harder to deliver aid. The objectives of this study were to determine the relationship between value chain strategies adopted by humanitarian organizations in Nairobi County in Kenya and their performance in responding to the various disasters facing the local populations. This study involved the use of primary data that was collected through the use of closed ended questionnaires. The data collection was carried out by a ―drop and pick‖ mechanism of questionnaires and which targeted operational, program, logistics managers and field support officers, based on the organizations structure and role of the staff involved in the value chain management process with the organizations. The population of the study was 86 humanitarian organizations which translated in a response rate of 74% of the targeted population. The data that collected was then analyzed by the use of SPSS and the findings revealed that there was a significant relationship between value chain strategy used by the organizations and their performance.