Remote Community Supply Chain Study – Improving food security to remote communities in Queensland
Around 150,000 people in more than 1,200 remote and very remote communities in Australia live with tenuous food security.
Due to increasing transport costs and lack of bulk purchasing power, the National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) estimates residents in these communities pay 39 per cent more for supermarket supplies than consumers in capital cities – and the gap could be widening.
A lack of affordable, healthy food directly contributes to disproportionately high rates of preventable disease, including kidney and heart disease, Type 2 diabetes, cancer and mental health issues.
The supply chain, from paddock to plate, is a key challenge in meeting the four pillars of food security in remote communities:
- Availability
- Access
- Utilisation
- Resilience and stability
Working closely with Health and Wellbeing Queensland and Torres Cape Indigenous Council Alliance (TCICA), we produced a Remote Community Supply Chain Study. The study provides additional information – to an existing body of knowledge – upon which policymakers and industry participants can make informed decisions on measures to:
- Improve the performance of supply chains
- Achieve positive outcomes for remote communities.
Building a picture of food-based supply chains to remote communities
Australia’s food supply chains from producers to distribution centres are long, particularly for seasonal produce. We have a diverse range of growing regions for specific produce which are connected to distribution centres that serve the whole country. Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s Gather + Grow framework identifies key priorities to deliver food security to remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Queensland. These priorities are aligned to the four pillars of food security and will require a whole of government response to support communities to achieve resilient and stable food sources.
The key objective of this study was to build a picture of food-based supply chains to remote communities, including the stakeholders, inf rastructure, facilities, transportation modes, distances and transport routes involved. With multiple handoffs along a supply chain, often no single entity has a clear and complete picture of the journey of produce from paddock to plate. A supply chain map provides a basis for further analysis and data-based decision making to address the issue of food security in remote communities.
Our study aimed to answer fundamental questions about supply chains to remote communities, including:
- Where does produce originate?
- How does it get to consumers?
- How far does it travel?
- How resilient is the route to major climatic events?
- How long does it take?
- Who is involved?
Escalating fuel prices increase transport costs, which directly impacts food prices. And, in far-north Queensland, we also needed to consider the impact of the region’s weather patterns. The wet season impacts road networks with flooding and road closures; cyclones further impact already vulnerable areas; and climate change may exacerbate existing conditions.
During the wet and cyclone season, remote stores look to hold larger inventories to prepare for the possibility of missed shipments. However, this must be balanced against the shelf life of perishable goods. And, while not the focus of our study, the issues caused by long supply chains associated with food delivery also apply to other critical provisions, including health supplies and pharmaceuticals, which has an additional impact on the general health and wellbeing of the community.
For more information, please contact advisory@arup.com
