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MAE 7113 A Study in Agriethics
Course description
Society can not afford to neglect the agricultural sector and our concern should not only be with
producing more agricultural products but also with the ethics involved in this sector.
Technological advances in areas such as biotechnology have had tremendous effect on
agricultural ethics. Much of traditional agricultural studies have emphasized more about learning
to do things that increase food and fiber production. But many of the industry's practitioners not
only lack knowledge of their ethical foundation, but also are unable to articulate and
conceptualize the underlying values of the practice. Agriethics concerns itself with issues such as
the ethical implications of genetic engineering in the field of agriculture, labor in agriculture,
policy issues, and agribusiness, among others. It is important in modern society to research and
set out viable principles that could govern policy and practice in agriculture and this is what this
course will aim at equipping the students with.
Course objectives
This course will help students to assess the ethics of agricultural interventions such as genetic
engineering, modernization policies, land reform and agri-business
Learning objectives
At the end of the course students should be able to;



Define agri-ethics
Assess the ethics of agricultural policies
Use ethics as an analytical category in order to assess the global politics of neo-liberal
agri-reform
Intellectual, practical and transferable skills
 Articulation
 Conceptualization
 Evaluation
Teaching Methods
 Group discussions
 Case studies
 Guest lecturers
 Lectures
 Group presentations
Content outline
1. Agri-Ethics: Tools and Approaches
2. Agriculture and Human values
3. Agricultural sustainability
4. Theories of Agri-ethics
5. Ethics and agricultural modernization
6. Globalisation as threat Organic agriculture
7. Genetically modified foods and consumer safety
8. Agricultural trade and politics of subsidies
9. The ethics of sustainable agricultural intensification
10. Ethical issues in fisheries
11. Agri-Ethics and the Politics of global warming
Assessment Method
The assessment method is structured to include coursework and final examination. Coursework
consists of assignments, presentations and tests.
The course shall be assessed on the basis of coursework and the final examination represented as
Coursework
40%
Final Examination
60%
The above marks totals to 100%
The minimum mark required to pass is 60%. This includes coursework and final examination.
This course is allowed a maximum of three hours for final examination.
Suggested Reading list
Carson R (1962) Silent Spring. Houghton Miflin, New York
Conway G (1997) The Doubly Green Revolution. Comstock Publishing
Associates, Ithaca, NY
Eicher CK, Staatz JM (1998) International Agricultural Development. Johns
Hopkins University Press, Baltimore
Gliessman SR (2000) Agroecology. Ecological Processes in Sustainable Agriculture.
Lewis Publishers, Washington, DC
Ruttan VW (1999) The transition to agricultural sustainability. Proc Natl
Acad Sci USA 96: 5960–5967
Thompson PB (1998) Agricultural Ethics. Iowa State University Press,
Ames, p 13
Tilman D, Cassmann KG, Matson PA, Naylor R, Polasky S (2002) Agricultural
sustainability and intensive production practices. Nature 418:
671–677
World Commission for Environment and Development (1987) Our Common
Future, Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK
Bullard R. W., ed, 2005, The Quest for Environmental Justice: Human Rights and the Politics of
Pollution, Sierra Club Books.
Daly H., et al, ed, 1993, Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology and Ethics, The MIT Press.
Daly H., 1997, Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development, Beacon Press.
Nash R., 1989, The Right to Nature: A History of Environmental Ethics, University of Wisconsin
Press.