Focus on Relevance and Market Trends
The Department of Agricultural Economics and Extension is housed in the School of Agriculture and has a high calibre, well-experienced, committed and competent team of academic staff. There are five members of staff with Doctor of Philosophy degrees in the fields of agricultural economics, agribusiness, agricultural education, project management and environmental economics.
Currently, the Department offers four academic programmes namely; Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness Management, Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Education and Extension, Master of Science in Agricultural Economics and Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Economics. All our programmes are approved and respective degrees accredited by the Commission for University Education and are regionally and globally recognized. The undergraduate programmes provide for exposure to industry practice through academic trips, teaching practice, industrial and field attachments.
Since its inception in 2013, the student enrolment has steadily grown, with many having graduated who are highly competitive in the job market. The postgraduate students have progressed well as per set timelines and are at different stages of proposal development and thesis writing, and are bound to complete their studies on time.
The staff and students undertake cutting-edge research and have consistently published quality articles in peer-reviewed journals. The Department is currently participating in implementing an ongoing project titled Scaling-up Pathways of Last Mile Climate Information Services for Community Resilience in Kenya and Uganda, funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada. In addition, members of the Department engage in various professional consultancy projects with the private sector, government, non-governmental and international organizations.
In order to meet market demand, three new academic programmes have been developed. These are Doctor of Philosophy in Agricultural Extension, Master of Science in Agricultural Extension and Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics Development. These new curricula are in line with Governments’ efforts to realize sustainable and secure livelihoods. The Department has planned to develop and launch two new and innovative programmes; Masters in Agribusiness Management and Doctor of Philosophy in Agribusiness Management. In addition, the department is in the process of reviewing the current Programmes so as to make them in sync with the market needs.
The Department is also developing three market-driven short-term courses that will take one week to six months based on the various stages of the agricultural production value chain. These unique courses are in farm resource management, value addition and climate change mitigation strategies. These courses will be delivered through on-site training and on the e-learning platform. The Department has embarked on ambitious short, medium and longterm strategies aimed at continuous improvement of the rating in terms of scientific research outputs, enhancing the financial resource base and upscaling the number of research projects.