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Department of Agricultural Economics & Extension |
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AGR 211-3 Introduction to Agricultural Statistics and Computer Applications
Role of Statistics in the social and biological sciences. Collection, classification, tabulation and resentation of data. Measures of central tendency and dispersion. Probability distributions. Various tests of significance. Analysis of variance and co-variance, regression and correlation. Significance principles and classification of experimental designs. sources of variation in field experiments. Application of statistical software in data analysis; SPSS, SAS, MSTAT
AEC 221-3 Principles of General Economics
Problems of price theory and resource allocation under perfect competition, monopoly, and monopolistic competition. Problem of income distribution and state policy. Problem of economic system as a whole. Determinations of aggregate income, expenditure, savings and employment. Money and banking, economic fluctuations, economic development, international trade. Fiscal theory and policy.
AEC 311-3 Mathematical Economics
Nature of mathematical Economics. Linear functions: supply and demand functions, solution of equilibrium models. Slope and elasticity: average and marginal propensities, price elasticity of demand, elasticity of supply, income elasticity of demand, cross elasticity of demand. Simultaneous linear Equations; market equilibrium. Input-output models. IS-LM curves. Curvilinear functions. Differentiation: curved functions, marginal revenue and marginal cost. Maxima and minima, profit maximization. Taxation.
AEC 312-3 Introduction to Farm Management and Accounting
Farm costs and revenue theories. Types of farm records and their uses. Types of record books and accounts. Depreciation methods, stock taking; financial statements; balance sheet, income statement, cash flow statement; analysis and interpretation of financial statements; farm records and accounts for internal control and external appraisal. Farm planning methods including budgeting, gross margin analysis, and programme planning.
AEC 313-3 Micro-economics for Agriculture
Consumer demand theory; theory of consumer choice; equilibrium of the consumer. Use of the consumer demand theory. Theory of the firm; markets, factor pricing; resource allocation. General equilibrium analysis. Social welfare.
AEC 314-3 Research Methods
The main objectives of this course are to provide students with an understanding of the nature of major philosophies relating to scientific enquiry, diagnosis of research problems, the structuring of problems for economic inquiry, the planning, execution and reporting of economic research. The main focus will be:
- Research philosophy
- Research framework
- Data analysis
- Research reporting
Role of statistics in the social sciences. Collection, classification, tabulations and presentation of data. Measures of central tendency and dispersion. Probability distributions. Various tests of significance. Analysis of variance and co-variance. Regression and correlation analysis.
AEC 315-3 Agriculture and International Trade
Determinants of trade, trade theories, theory of comparative advantage. Trade barriers; tariffs, quotas and other restrictions. Rules and institutions(IMF, GATT and UNCTAD) in world trade. Trade in the SACU and SADC regions. International marketing; export linkages between production for export and the domestic economy; role of agriculture in import substitution and export promotion development strategies; importance of agricultural exports to Lesotho’s economy; balance of payments dis-equilibrium and adjustment; foreign exchange control and policies; international material movements of capital.
AEC 321-3 Farm Management Applications
Enterprises and the national economy. Economics of crop production: the cereals enterprise, the leguminous enterprise, the fodder crop enterprise. Economics of livestock production; the dairy enterprise, the poultry enterprise, the pig enterprise. The economics of horticultural enterprises. Farm visits(hours of instruction comprise both laboratory computer based session and lecturers).
AEC 322-3 Agricultural Marketing and Cooperatives
The marketing concept and marketing mix. Analysis of structure conduct and performance of markets. Marketing functions and efficiency. Marketing channels, marketing margins and mark-up. Role of government in marketing. Cooperatives and cooperative philosophies. Different kinds of cooperatives including marketing cooperatives. Cooperatives, principles, organizations and structures. Operations and management of cooperatives; contribution to national economy. Cooperative performance, management problems and the role of government in cooperative development.
AEC 323-3 Macro-economics for Agriculture
Micro-macroeconomic relationships. National income accounting, review of the Keynesian income determination model. Further analysis of the Keynesian model , consumption, savings, and investment theories. Money and banking. The IS-LM framework, balance of payments. Monetary and fiscal policies. Macro-economics problems: inflation, deflation, unemployment, recession.
AEC 324-3 Introduction to Econometrics
Definition and scope of econometrics; simple regression analysis; multivariate linear regression model. Econometric problems: autocorrelation, heteroskedasticity and multicollinearity; model specification and estimation. Applications to economic theories.
AEC 325-3 Production Economics
Scope of production economics, production environment. Nature and characteristics of production, factors of production. Risk and uncertainty; production functions: the concept of production function; physical product, average product, marginal physical product. Elasticity of production, law of diminishing returns and the stages of production; technical and economic efficiency; cost concepts on production, economies and diseconomies of scale; production relationships and decision making resource use. Factor-factor, factor-product, and product-product relationships.
AEC 411-3 Economics of Agricultural Development
Concept of economic development: meaning of economic growth and economic development. Agriculture and economic growth: theory and evidence; stage theories of economic growth; historical record of agriculture and economic growth. Agriculture and economic growth in LDCs: the role of agriculture in LDCs; comparative analysis of agrarian in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The stagnation of agriculture in LDCs; policies which assist adjustment in LDCs; planning and economic development in LDCs. Importance of agriculture in economic development. The food and the farm problem and growth of the labour force. International economic issues: the peasant export conflicting views, institutional background (GATA/UNCTAD and the World Bank). Technology and resource endorsement; strategies for agricultural and rural development; technology and innovation, the green revolution. Agriculture and economic growth in Lesotho. Case studies.
AEC 412-3 Agricultural Policy
This course provides a comprehensive overview of domestic and international agricultural policy. It deals with the overall nature of food and agricultural production and agricultural sector policies, problems, the groups in the process, the world food problems, various aspects of domestic farm policy, customer food concerns, food and nutrition policies and programmes; resource problems and policies. Analysis of major forms of government interventions and regulations in agriculture. Trends in international and domestic markets for agricultural products
AEC 413-3 Agricultural Credit and Finance
Basic concepts of agricultural finance, financial analysis of agricultural business including farm and relation to agro-industrial firms, tools for financial management; role and use of credit in developing countries, formal and informal institutions in agricultural credit and their associated problems and conflicts. Analysis of Government credit policies with respect to efficient credit management.
AEC 414-3 Natural Resource and Environmental Economics
Evolution of environmental economics. Sources of inefficiency and misallocation, property rights, market failure, economics of pollution management; management of exhaustible and renewable resources. Cost benefit analysis; evaluation of environmental goods and services; environmental impact assessment; environmental accounting; environmental policy instruments, global environmental treaties. Resources and environmental issues of current debate.
AEC 415 Operations Research
The nature of operations research. construction and solution models. Linear programming; duality theory in linear programming, transport problem; assignment problem.
AEC 421-3 Agricultural Development and Planning
Problems of agricultural development in developing countries. Role of planning in agricultural development. Plan priorities. Steps in agricultural planning. Institutional planning for agricultural development. Human resources constraints on agricultural development. Role of state. Agricultural development planning in Lesotho.
AEC 422-3 Advanced Econometrics
Theory and applications; Simultaneous equations; Identification problem; Instrumental and dummy variables; Qualitative and dependent variables; Time series analysis; Forecasting; Model building and interpretation; Applications of single equation models; Applications of simultaneous equation models.
AEC 423-3 Agribusiness Management
Introduction to agribusiness; agribusiness and Economic development; Approaches to agribusiness management; general management principles; management of functional areas; accounting function.
AEC 424-3 Agricultural Project Planning and Evaluation
Analytical treatment of major economic resources in agriculture, and problems related to their ownership, use and management. Goals of project analysis. Steps in preparation and appraisal of projects. Methodological problems in project evaluation. Project monitoring, organizational and administrative requirements of project evaluation.
AEC 425-3 Agricultural Price Analysis
Principles of supply and demand and their relationship to agricultural prices. Price policy interventions: subsidy, trade policy; impact of price changes on markets and marketing; nature of world market price, foreign exchange rates and domestic prices. Justification and limitation of government interventions in price determination. Mechanism for discovering prices.
AEC 444-6 Agricultural Economics Project/ Student Seminar
Each student will be expected to conduct research project on an area of Agricultural Economics and write it up in the form of a dissertation. The student shall present a seminar based on his/her project.
AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION COURSE SYNOPSES
AEX 111-3 Introduction to Rural Sociology
Basic sociological concepts, methods, general principles and their applications; perspectives of sociology and rural sociology; social organisations and social relations; traditional social organisations. The peasant farming system; rural societies and social structure. Basic concepts and principles of rural sociology in relation to rural social processes. The major rural social institutions. Social change in rural areas; perspectives of social change and forces influencing it; innovations, change agent, environment issues and social change. The human factor in development programmes.
AEX 211-3 Introduction to Agricultural Extension
The need for agricultural extension and its history. Basic philosophies behind agricultural extension work. Agricultural extension and supporting disciplines; agricultural extension and research linkages. The extension services; the extension worker. Principles of teaching and learning process; farmer training, techniques for communicating innovations. Agricultural extension teaching methods and aids. organisation and systems of agricultural extension. Adoption and diffusion of innovations. Extension planning, extension evaluation; management of extension programmes. Extension staff training.
AEX 311-3 Adult and non-formal Education
Non-formal education in development. Organizing adult education; experiences from other functional literacy programmes. Continuing education in the context of rural communities. Methods and materials suited to teaching adults. Farmer training and transfer of technology. Conceptual needs related to farm modernization. Folk development colleges.
AEX 312-3 Agricultural Extension Administration and Management
Basic principles of successful administration and management of agricultural and training institutions; administrative structures and productivity; office and personnel administration; techniques of work planning; project organisation and office management. Staff relations, motivation and workers committees. Procedure for the management of finances, transport, stores, equipment and personnel; preparing estimates. Factors associated with effectiveness, efficiency, communication and motivation. Discipline; problems associated with administering agricultural enterprises and projects. Work ethics.
AEX 314-3 Philosophy of Agricultural Extension
Philosophical concepts of agricultural extension with emphasis on pragmatism, learning by doing and community orientation approach. Types of agricultural extension. Objectives of agricultural extension, its scope and development. Development of agricultural extension in Lesotho. The role of agricultural extension in national development. Comparative agricultural extension systems elsewhere in developing world.
AEX 321-3 Group Participation in Extension
Analysis of rural society. Relations of groups in social environment. Group differences, teaching, learning and motivation in extension work. Identification of groups in effective extension work. Observation of social and cultural factors that hinder group participation in extension. Concept of community participation in agricultural extension programmes development.
AEX 322-3 Curriculum Development in Agricultural Extension
Objectives of pre-service and in-service training programmes for different categories of extension personnel, and farmers. The philosophical and psychological bases of curriculum development in reference to practical learning. Conceptual hierarchies required for mastering agriculture at different levels. Approaches to incorporating practical work in curriculum; the development of localised options to suit environmental conditions.
AEX 323-3 Agricultural Extension and Rural Development
The role of extension in both agricultural and rural development. The extension agent and rural communities; methods of influencing human behaviour. Extension education, extension techniques. Extension communication strategies; strategies for small farmer development. Extension for rural development, community development. Meaning of development. Models and approaches of agricultural extension. Agricultural support systems. General problems associated with extension. Reforming extension systems. Critical development issues. Extension agent and rural community; basic principles of extension.
AEX 411-3 Community Organisation and Leadership in Extension
Identification, evaluation and training of leaders for community development, identification of youth involvement, community participation, professional and local leaders, patron-client relationships and value systems. Procedures for identifying various community organisations, types of organisations in any rural community in Lesotho.
AEX 412-3 Audio Visual Methods
Explain the concept and various uses of audio-visual aids in agricultural extension services. The importance of audio visual aids in overcoming language difficulties; to give the same message to many people at once. Types of audio visuals relevant to agricultural extension work. Steps to consider in making audio visual aids. When to use audio visual aids. Handling of audio visual equipment.
AEX 413-3 Comparative Agricultural Extension Systems
Structure and philosophy of agricultural extension in selected countries. Data on the effectiveness of administrative, training and information components of extension work under different institutional structures in Africa or other developing countries which are relevant. Internal features of agricultural extension organization; leadership, funding, resources staffing, scope, linkages, problems and possible solutions.
AEX 421-3 Communication in Agricultural Development
Agricultural/rural development concept. Communication theory as related to rural development. Communication and teaching/learning process. Communication process. Models of communication in relation to agricultural development. Barriers to effective communication. Personal communication skills. Mass media. Use of groups in advisory work. Information technology and its role in agricultural development. The nature of interviewing. Counsellor training for agricultural extension worker.
AEX 422-3 Women and Technology in Rural Development
Traditional roles and social status of women in southern Africa. Labour burden of rural women. Rural-urban migration effects. Distribution of family income. Access to extension service, credit facilities and other service institutions. Potential of women in development. Women organizations and the role they play in rural development. Women as extension workers. Technology transfer.
AEX 423-3 Agricultural Extension Programme Planning
Theoretical perspectives in extension programme development. Drawing up extension programmes and their related information needs. The requirements for programme planning; target client groups, extension content, extension methods and purpose of programme planning. Some assumptions in extension programming; steps in the planning process and the role of the extension worker. Techniques for programmes design, plan of work, coordination and supervision. Planning procedure for agricultural extension campaigns. Administrative feedback/evaluation procedure and case studies.
AEX 444-6 Agricultural Extension Project/ Student Seminar
Each student will be expected to conduct research project on an area of Agricultural Economics and write it up in the form of a dissertation. The student shall present a seminar based on his/her project.
M.Sc. AGRIC EXTENSION CORE COURSES SYNOPSES
Core Course
AES 601-4 Rural Sociology
Group and Social Systems; Socialization, social process. Review of Sociology theory relevant for understanding the dynamics of group organization and village leadership in an African context. Population trends both in pre-and post colonial era. Rural institutions, and emerging rural community Types of emergent farming systems. Theories of Social change. Agencies of rural social and economic change. Adoption and diffusion of innovations. Grassroot approaches to social change; popular participation; Bureaucratic approaches to development. Rural problems. Rural development as an integrated process.
AES 602-4 Agricultural Extension
Philosophies behind Agricultural extension. Organisation and administration of Agriculture; extension systems; structure and philosophy of extension services in selected countries. The communication process. Extension methods. Training of extension staff; leadership, staffing; funding and linkages. Farmer training. The role of indigenous knowledge in effective extension work.
AES 603-4 Survey Methods
Methods for collecting Socio-Economic data, problems of survey methodology in African rural contexts, Alternative types of data. Questionnaire formulation and Interviewing strategies. Assessing community needs. Measurement of typical rural variables. Presentation of farm level data. Acquiring data for project appraisal, feasibility and baseline surveys, Rapid Rural Appraisals and participatory rural Appraisals. Evaluation of programmes. Secondary analysis of survey data.
AES 604-4 Adult and Non-Formal Education
Historical experiences with non-formal, adult and community education worldwide. Differences in learning in and out of school, between children and adults. The role of schools, in community-based learning. Village polytechnics and the transfer of rural technology, Adult education programmes. Folk development colleges, farmer training.
Case studies of functional literacy.
AES 605-4 Agricultural Administration and Management
Theory and strategies relevant to the administration of agricultural extension services, agricultural projects, and training institutions. Management of agricultural projects. The manager’s role in the public service; factors associated with effectiveness, efficiency, communication, motivation and decision-making processes, division of work, coordination, planning techniques. Management information systems. Identification of programme needs, work-study methods; staff development. Financial, personnel control; Vehicle; equipment and stock records management. The disciplinary process. Staff relations, workers committees and administrative communication.
AES 606-4 Audio-Visual Methods
Theories and problems of communication with adults. The psychological, social and Economic factors governing the choice of media in the local environment. Problems of visual literacy. The planning, construction and utilization of visual literacy. The planning, construction and utilization of visual and audio aids. Innovations in education technology. Planning and preparation of audio-visual presentations. Operation and maintenance of various public address systems. Administration of an audio-visual unit. Sources of audio-visual materials in the developing world. Agricultural journalisms.
AES 607-4 Gender and Development
Women and agriculture in Africa and local situation. Gender roles. Female farmers and Technology innovations. The changing role of women in farm and village activities. Women and agricultural policies. Women participation in community based-programmes. Use of family-based socialization for creating modern attitudes and skills. The problems of unequal access by girls to formal education and better jobs. Possible corrective measures or strategies. Gender roles and appropriate technology.
AES 608-4 Extension Programme Planning
Types of agricultural planning and their related information needs. Formulating an extension strategy. Characteristics of district extension units. The requirements for programme planning: situation analysis, definition of objectives, programme organization, selecting methods and assessing resources. Techniques for programme design, the plan of work, activity scheduling, coordination and supervision, field campaigns Administrative feedback.
AES 609-4 Extension Evaluation
The design of evaluation research. Types of information needed in ex-ante and ex-post analysis relevant to extension planning and implementation. Evaluation of extension programmes and projects. Formative and summative evaluations. Use of files and official data; special problems on attitude measurement. Measuring community needs and organizational effectiveness.
AES 610 Thesis (M.Sc./Ph.D.) – 12