Agrarian Development, Food Policy and Rural Poverty

Key information

Status: Module not running
Module code: 15PDSH026
FHEQ Level: 7
Credits: 15
Department: Department of Development Studies

Module overview

The aim of this module is to enable students to understand and evaluate major policy debates on the role of agriculture in development. To do so, the course will consider in some depth the relevant theoretical and empirical literature on: the necessary for structural change in agriculture-dependant societies; the operation of agricultural factor and commodity markets, including international markets; the nature of rural societies and the characterisation of farmers; the nature of food markets and the role of agriculture in improving welfare. Both mainstream and heterodox approaches will be investigated.

Objectives and learning outcomes of the module

By the end of this module, students should be able to:

understand the major and minor strands in debates on agriculture and development
analyse and compare mainstream and heterodox approaches
apply both theory and methodology in constructing a critical analysis of the issues for a particular country

Workload

Teaching takes place through a weekly 1 hour lecture and 1 hour tutorial.

Method of assessment

100% coursework. Each student will be expected to submit one Essay worth 70% and an Analysis piece worth 30%. Resubmission of coursework regulations apply.