Download MSc_AGRICULTURAL_ECONOMICS

MSc. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS
DESCRIPTION OF UNITS
EES 812: Applied Econometrics for Agriculture
Definition, scope and division of Econometrics, methodology of econometrics research in
agriculture; correlation Theory; simple regression analysis; OLS, tests of significance of
estimated parameters; properties of OLS estimated parameters; Multiple regression analysis.
Regression and analysis of variance; Violation of OLS assumptions: consequences and
remedies; regression with dummy dependent/independent variables; simultaneous
relationships in agriculture; agricultural time series analysis; agricultural panel data analysis
EES 813: Mathematics for Agricultural Economics
Sets theory, simple linear algebra; application of differential and integral calculus in
agricultural economics; differential and difference equations in agriculture; linear and nonlinear programming in agricultural economics; application of convex theory; quasi-convex
functions; linear programming and optimality; langrangian multipliers and marginal values;
optimization and dynamic agricultural analysis; constrained and non-constrained optimization;
maximum principle condition; natural dynamics in agricultural economic
EES 814: Statistics for Agriculture
Review of distribution theory and applications. Descriptive statistics: principles and
probability. Parametric statistics methods; Survey sampling in agriculture: random numbers,
sampling methods, sample size, qualitative vs quantitative methods. Non-parametric methods:
Wilcoxon sign and rank tests, Kruskall-wallis tests, Spearman rank correlation, Chis-square,
runs tests, sign test. Correlation and simple regression analysis; Analysis of variance.
Decision analysis in agriculture
KCU 801: Research Methods and Scientific Writing
Types: social and scientific, observation, experimental and survey. Main steps of research
projects; identification of research problems, formulation of research questions, hypotheses,
and objectives, planning, literature review. Sampling strategies. Sampling designs. Methods of
data collection. Data cleaning and management. Data analysis. Data interpretation. Report
writing: Writing technical reports, styles of writing and referencing. Dissemination:
publication, seminars, information packaging. Research ethics. IPR.
KBT 800: Microeconomics
Concepts of consumer behaviour: consumer preference, concept of utility, types of utility,
functions, individual demand functions, Engel function, ordinary demand function, Demand
Elasticity, price elasticity of demand, utility maximization: comparative statistics, Langrangian
technique, consumer’s problem, individual consumer and market demand: cross-price demand
function, Homogeneity property of demand functions.
Elasticity of demand functions: Elasticities of various types of demand functions income and
substitution effects, theory of revealed preference and applications, theory of the firm, problem
of choice, multiperiod consumption, efficiency, gains from exchange, short and long run
market analysis.
KBT 801: Macroeconomics
Macro-economic issues, national income accounting, themes of macro-economic theory
framework for macroeconomic analysis, classical and Keynesian approaches, aggregate
demand and supply, theory of income determination, the IS-LM model, market equilibrium,
theory of consumption expenditure, macroeconomic modelling, theory of investment demand,
theory of money in the macroeconomy, supply of money, the government sector in the
macroeconomy. The foreign sector; balance of payments, theory of growth and the principles
of macroeconomic policy
KBT 802: Agricultural and Food Marketing
Review of Agricultural and food production and Food security in the region; the marketing
concept and marketing systems applied to agriculture. Links between agriculture and food
industry; Marketing channels and costs for agricultural and food products. Marketing Research
and Information Systems; consumer and organisational buyer behavior; Spatial and Intertemporal Market Linkages; Horizontal and Vertical Integration; analysis of international
agricultural and food products markets, strategic options for entering foreign markets, and
marketing mix decisions; strategic international marketing plan. Strategic and operational
aspects of supply chain management
KBT 803: Strategic Agribusiness Management
Review of Agribusiness Management; Dynamics of the Agribusiness Environment; Starting
and Financing an Agribusiness Enterprise; Strategic Management in Agribusiness; Strategic &
Leadership in Agribusiness; Corporate governance and strategy; Internal and External
environmental analysis; Competitor Analysis; Strategy formulation: long-term goals and
generic strategies; grand and functional strategies; strategic fit; Strategic analysis and choice;
Strategy implementation and change management; drivers and instruments for agribusiness
strategy implementation; strategic control and evaluation;
KBT 804: Agribusiness Supply Chain Management
Introduction, Supply chain and supply chain management; Value-Addition in Agro-Supply
Chains; Performance of Agro-Chains; Network Design in the Agro-chain; Control and
Coordination of Agro-chains; Support Services in Agro-chains; Review of Risk Mitigation
Strategies in Agro-chains; Emerging Issues in Modern Agribusiness Supply chain
Management; Case Studies in Agribusiness Supply Chain Management.
KBT 806: Institutional and Behavioural Economics
The Agricultural Development Challenge: Stylised Features; New Institutional Economics:
Distinctive Features and Concepts; Institutions and Development: A Historical and Macro
Perspective; Techno-Economic Characteristics and Agricultural Systems (Products?) in Poor
Countries; NIE Analysis of Markets and Market Structure; The State; Collective Action;
Transaction Costs in Smallholder Agriculture; Case Studies.
KBT 807: Consumer Demand Analysis
Review of Neoclassical demand and consumer theory; Duality and Applications; Price
Dependent Demand Systems; Gap between Theory and Practice; modelling structural change
in food demand
KBT 808: Advanced Agricultural Project Management
Introduction to the Course; The Project Concept; The Logical Framework Approach to Project
Planning; Agricultural Research Planning; Strategic Planning; Economic Analysis of
Agricultural Development Projects through CBA; Welfare Economics/Political Economy of
Project Analysis and Appraisal; Monitoring, evaluation and Impacts Assessment; Project
Scheduling Techniques; project Management.
KBT 809: Foundations of Agricultural and Rural Development
Review of Principles of Growth and Development; Problems and Policies in Agribusiness and
Rural Development Issues Options and Challenges; The Role of Agribusiness in Rural and
Economic Development; The Economic Nature of Traditional Agriculture; Strategies for
Modernizing Agriculture (Lessons from Experience); Poverty Dynamics, Food and the
Environmental Nexus.
KBT 810: Agricultural Finance and Risk Management
Financial management; returns & risks from investing; security analysis, valuation &
management; Turnaround strategies; Asset allocation & portfolio management; Microfinance,
financing agribusiness ventures, Financial Intermediation; Constraints of lending to Microenterprises; Introduction to risk; uncertainty and consequences of risky prospect; subjective
and posterior probabilities; utility and integrating decision maker’s environment, efficiency
measures and simulation; elementary dynamic decision model; risk awareness, mitigation and
management
KBT 811: Agricultural Production Economics
Review/Overview; Representing Technology in One and Two-Input Case; Cost, Profit, and
Supply Functions of the Firm; Cost Minimization and Profit Maximization in the Two-Input
Case: The isocost line; Returns to Size and Returns to Scale; Technical Efficiency and
Technology Adoption; Using the Profit Function to Estimate Supply and Factor Demand;
Linear Programming (LP) and the Theory of Production; Risk and Uncertainty in Production;
Household Production Model of Smallholder Agriculture.
KBT 812: Agricultural and Food Policy Analysis
Introduction to Agriculture & Agri-Food Policy; Economic Tools Essential for Agri-Food
Policy Analysis; Government Intervention in Agriculture; Stabilization and Insurance
Programs; Marketing and Market Regulation; Food Safety and Other Food Regulations
Supply Management and Other Production Controls; Environmental Regulation; Trade Policy
KBT 813: International Agricultural Trade and Policy
Theoretical Concepts Underlying International Trade, world trends in agricultural trade, Trade
Policy and impacts, Macroeconomic Policy, Exchange Rates and Agricultural Trade, Regional
Integration, trade policies of IMF, WB, Regional institutions- COMESA, SADC, SACU, EAC,
ICA and WTO; Emerging Issues in Food and Agricultural Trade - motives, types and
institutional set-up of economic integration - Regulations standards and product certification
(SPS, HACCP); Cross Border Trade and implications, Regional integration, Globalization
KBT 815: Gender and Economic Development
Gender Roles and Relations in Agricultural Production; Evolution of Gender Theory; Gender
and Access to Productive Resources; Gender and the Household Economy; Gender and
Agricultural Technological Development; Mainstreaming Gender in Economic Development;
Case Studies.
KBT 816: Farming Systems & Sustainable Livelihood Analysis
Review of Concepts; Issues in Agricultural Production; Determinants of Farming Systems;
Smallholder, Resource Poor Family Farms; Farming Systems Approach; Farming System
Methodologies; Designing Farming Systems Option(s) and Impact Assessment of Designed
System Frames; National Food Production and Farming Systems; Case Studies.
KBT 817: Science and Technology Policy Analysis
Technology Generation, Adoption and Constraints; Technological Innovation and the Firm;
Economic Analysis and Technological Change; Political and Social Aspects of Technological
Change; International Technology Transfer; Technology and Environment; Technology
Evaluation and Policy.
KBT 818: Environment & Natural Resource Management
Introduction; Concepts in Environment and Natural Resource Economics; Instruments for
Environmental Management and Assessment; Economic; Agriculture, Environment and
Ecosystem Management; Land Use, Land Markets, Land Policy and Soil Erosion; Habitat
Management and Restoration; Management of Water Resources and Wetlands; Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Function; Management of Forests and Wild lands; Energy Resources
Management; Waste and Air Quality Management; Ecology and Urban Environment.
KBT 819: Quantitative Methods in Environmental Economics
Review on Economic and Environmental Data, Resources and National Income Accounting;
Regression Models for Categorical and Limited Dependent Variables (Extensions); Advanced
Econometric Analysis of Duration Data; Econometric Analysis of Panel Data (Extensions);
Environmental Input-Output Models; Environmental CGE Modelling
KBT 820: Natural Resource Economics and Management
Review of Concepts and Tools; Economics of Fisheries; Forestry; Non-renewable Resources;
Water; Wildlife and Rangelands; Sustainable development
KBT 821: Environmental Valuation and Policy
Markets, Institutional and Policy Failures; The Welfare Economics Basis for Environmental
Valuation; Environmental Valuation and Analysis; Environmental Policy; The Politics and
Psychology of Policy Instruments; Application of Environmental Economic Analysis to
Agriculture.
KBT 822: Issues in Agriculture and applied Economics
Theoretical Foundations for Understanding Issues in Agricultural and Applied Economics;
Topical Issues and Emerging Challenges at the Frontiers of Agricultural and Rural
Development; Developing Special Skills for Understanding and Appraising Scholarly Writings
and Policy Documents.
KBT 824: Quantitative Methods in Agribusiness management
Linear algebra and calculus: Sets and set theory, matrix algebra, distributions, application of
matrix algebra to input-output analysis and elementary Markovian process. Application of
calculus to economic models; Probability: permutation and combinations, discrete probability
distribution functions, sampling and estimation. Time series analysis and linear programming;
Decision theory: Risk and uncertainty, valuation criteria, decision tree, game theory. Activity
sequencing and Gantt charts.