Introduction
The teaching and research foci of Department of Agricultural and Food Economics are listed below.
- Impact Evaluation of Agricultural Projects and Innovations
- Economics of Non-traditional Food Crops
- Productivity and Efficiency Analysis
- Farm Resource Use
- Farm Management
- Price Transmission
- Food Economics
- Agricultural Technology and Innovation Systems
- Agricultural Innovation and Technology Adoption
- Gender and Rural Livelihoods
- Agriculture and Rural Development
- Agriculture and Rural Entrepreneurship
- Agricultural Policy Analysis
- Agricultural Project Management
- Circular Economy
- Precision Agriculture
- Climate Change
- Agriculture Innovation Commercialization and Intellectual Property
Programmes in the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics
BSc. Agriculture Technology (Agricultural Economics and Extension Option)
MSc Agricultural Economics
The MSc programme is for a duration of one academic years (12 months) organize during sandwich/regular academic year session. The programme is designed with the following aims:
- To provide students with useful quantitative and qualitative analytical skills.
- To provide practical knowledge, expert leadership, and field experience to help solve the complexity of problems facing agricultural and rural development.
- To equip students with the knowledge and understanding of agricultural policy conceptualization, formulation, and implementation.
Employment Prospects of Graduates
- Graduates of the programme may find employment in the following job markets:
- Government ministries such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to undertake work in policy analyses;
- Public and private sector companies involved in agribusiness and agricultural industries;
- Universities and analogous higher institutions of learning as academics;
- Research institutes, international and non-governmental organisations concerned with the economic analysis of agricultural sector issues and agricultural consultancies;
- Development and policy advocacy institutions;
- Agricultural development, rural and other commercial banks as project officers;
- Agribusiness industry; and
- Agricultural trade and export industry.
MSc Agricultural Project Management
The design of this programme aims at enabling students to understand the conceptualization, planning and effective implementation and evaluation of agricultural- and development-related projects. This MSc. Agricultural Project Management is not an ordinary agribusiness management programme; broadly, it provides an opportunity to develop deeper skills and knowledge in managing and evaluating projects. The MSc programme is for a duration of one academic years (12 months) organize during sandwich academic year session. The MSc Agricultural Project Management is offered by the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics under the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences.
Graduates of the MSc. Agricultural Project Management programme may find employment as:
- Agricultural Project Development Officers
- Agricultural Project Managers
- Agricultural Research Officers
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officers
- project grant writing experts
- Business owners to help them make accurate and timely decisions
- Government establishments especially Regional and District Directorates of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI) and Ministry of Lands and Forestry (MLF)
- Non-governmental organizations
- International organizations such as the World Food Programme
- Financial and Non-Financial Institutions
- Consultancy firms
- commodity merchandiser or broker
- grain marketing adviser or trader
- procurement merchandiser
MPhil Agricultural Economics
The MPhil Agricultural Economics programme is offered by the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics under the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences. The MPhil programme is for a duration of two academic years (24 months) organize during regular academic year session. The MPhil programme in Agricultural Economics is designed with the following aims:
- To provide students with useful quantitative and qualitative analytical skills.
- To provide practical knowledge, expert leadership, and field experience to help solve the complexity of problems facing agricultural and rural development.
- To equip students with the knowledge and understanding of agricultural policy conceptualization, formulation and implementation.
Employment Prospects of Graduates
- Graduates of the programme may find employment in the following job markets:
- Government ministries such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to undertake work in policy analyses;
- Public and private sector companies involved in agribusiness and agricultural industries;
- Universities and analogous higher institutions of learning as academics;
- Research institutes, international and non-governmental organizations concerned with the economic analysis of agricultural sector issues and agricultural consultancies;
- Development and policy advocacy institutions;
- Agricultural development, rural and other commercial banks as project officers;
- Agribusiness industry; and
- Agricultural trade and export industry.
MPhil Agricultural Project Management and Policy
The aim of the programme is to build the capacity of students to be able to manage and evaluate agricultural projects. The programme is for a duration of two academic years (2 years) organize during regular academic year session hosted by the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics.
The specific objectives of the MPhil Agricultural Project Management and Policy are to:
- train graduate students to acquire the theoretical concepts and approaches to managing agricultural programmes, projects and policies
- build the capacity of graduate students to acquire analytical and research skills to be able to evaluate agricultural projects, programmes and policies
- train students to acquire the professional knowledge, ethics and values require in agricultural project management
- train student to acquire advanced and applied academic knowledge to enable them to teach in agricultural training institutions.
Employment Prospects of Graduates
Graduates of the MPhil Agricultural Project Management and Policy programme may find employment as:
- Agricultural Project or Policy Development Officers
- Agricultural Project or Policy Managers
- Agricultural Management Research Officers
- Agricultural Policy Analysts
- Agricultural Policy Researchers or Lecturers
- Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Officers
The institutions or agencies or organizations graduates can work in include
- NGOs and International Organizations: Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), USAID, International Fertilizer Development Centre (IFDC), Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Rice Research Institute, Wienco Ghana Limited, AGRIMAT; International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI); Japanese International Corporation Agency (JICA), African Continental Free Trade Area (AfTCA)
- Corporate Institutions: Commercial Banks, Microfinance Institutes, Venture Capitals, Insurance Companies, Mining Companies etc.
- Crop Research Institute; COCOBOD; Universities, Agricultural Colleges, Science and Technology Policy Research Institute (STEPRI); Savannah Agricultural Institute (SARI), Animal Research Institute, Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana (CRIG), Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Bank of Ghana etc
- Graduates of the programme can also establish their own consultancies and or become agripreneurs along the agribusiness value chain.
PhD Agricultural Economics
The aim of the PhD in Agricultural Economics programme is to provide postgraduate students with useful research and analytical skills, practical knowledge and field experience, to help solve the complexity of problems facing agricultural and rural development in Ghana and across the globe. The programme is hosted in the Department of Agricultural and Food Economics under the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Consumer Sciences. The programme is for a duration of three academic years (3 years) organize during regular academic year session.
The PhD programme in Agricultural Economics is designed with the following objectives:
- To offer in-depth training in the application of contemporary economic theory and empirical research methodology to practical agricultural problems at the micro and macro levels;
- To emphasize the analysis and understanding of existing and potential agribusiness problems to ensure profitability and sustainability;
- To sharpen the knowledge and skills set of students to become Agricultural Economists working in the field towards the creation of pertinent innovations for agricultural development; and
- To equip students with the knowledge to examine problems of choice and resource allocation, from an economic perspective, relative to the production and marketing of agricultural commodities, nationally and internationally.
Employment Prospects of Graduates
- Graduates of the programme may find employment in the following job markets:
- Government ministries such as the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to undertake work in policy analyses;
- Public and private sector companies involved in agribusiness and agricultural industries;
- Universities and analogous higher institutions of learning as academics;
- Research institutes, international and non-governmental organisations concerned with the economic analysis of agricultural sector issues and agricultural consultancies;
- Development and policy advocacy institutions;
- Agricultural development, rural and other commercial banks as project officers;
- Agribusiness industry; and
- Agricultural trade and export industry.