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

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.