A Blockchain-enabled Framework for the Humanitarian Supply Chain in Kenya

As the frequency and intensity of disasters continue to rise globally, there is a growing need for efficient humanitarian supply chains, which are crucial for delivering lifesaving resources during emergencies. (HSCs), particularly in resource-constrained environments like Kenya, face critical challenges of aid diversion and fraud, logistical delays, and a lack of trust amongst humanitarian partners, which makes information sharing and coordination difficult. Solving these multi-faceted challenges calls for innovative approaches. Blockchain technology (BCT), known for its decentralised and immutable features, guarantees data privacy and security, and provides benefits of enhanced transparency and trust, which are critical in addressing operational challenges within HSCs. Numerous authors have recommended the integration of blockchain solutions in HSCs. To date, there remain few blockchain use-cases that provide evidence on the benefits and limitation of its implementation. Furthermore, humanitarian organisations (HOs) still face the challenge of how to implement the blockchain as there is a lack of a framework to guide them on the implementation process. This thesis aimed at filling this gap, by designing and developing a blockchain-enabled framework tailored for the HSC in Kenya. The framework shows a clear roadmap for blockchain implementation stages with distinct phases from initial planning to full-scale deployment and optimisation of the blockchain. The research adopted a mixed-method approach, specifically the explanatory sequential design, which starts with a quantitative phase, followed by a qualitative phase. For the quantitative phase, a feasibility study was conducted through a questionnaire survey involving key Kenyan humanitarian stakeholders, to identify the sectoral needs that BCT could address. Further to the feasibility study, the survey explored stakeholder’s awareness about the blockchain. Statistical analysis for hypothesis testing was conducted using SPSS statistical software. Insights from the analysis, supplemented by secondary literature, guided the development of the blockchain-enabled framework. The qualitative phase involved the validation of the framework, and deeper exploration, and explanation of the quantitative results, which was done through in-depth interviews, with Kenya humanitarian experts. The interviews were coded and analysed thematically, using Nvivo software. The finetuned blockchain-enabled framework consisted of nine stages. Findings indicate that the awareness stage was the most critical for the wide-scale adoption of BCT. BCT promises to significantly reduce most operational challenges within the Kenya HSC, ultimately strengthening disaster resilience of the country. To achieve these benefits, blockchain design should consider users experience, and interoperability with existing systems and HOs’ values. Leaders must also support BCT implementation to ensure strategic buy-in. Respondents were worried about BCT’s privacy and security due to association with fraudulent activities like the Silk Road, and therefore, stronger regulations and compliance to ethical standards in BCT usage is required to mitigate system risks. Future studies should focus on validating the blockchain-enabled framework in other countries to enhance the generalisation of results in HSCs. Further exploration of the benefits and drawbacks of using BCT in third-party and cloud computing infrastructure such as Microsoft Azure in HSCs is required