Yearbooks

Programme: BComHons Agricultural Economics

Kindly take note of the disclaimer regarding qualifications and degree names.
Code Faculty Department
07240091 Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences Department: Agricultural Economics, Extension and Rural Development
Credits Duration NQF level
Minimum duration of study: 1 year Total credits: 120 NQF level:  08

Admission requirements

  1. Relevant BCom degree
  2. A weighted average of at least 60% for Economics and Agricultural Economics at final-year level
  3. Statistics passed at second-year level

Other programme-specific information

Students intending to continue with the MCom degree in Agricultural Economics are advised to choose their elective modules from MIE 780, EKT 713, EKT 723 and LEK 711.

Examinations and pass requirements

Subject to the provisions of General Academic Regulation G26, a head of department determines, in consultation with the Dean when the honours examinations in his/her department will take place, provided that:

  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the academic year must take place before the closing date of the special exam period in the beginning of the following academic year, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration before the closing date of submission of marks; and
  • honours examinations which do not take place before the end of the first semester may take place no later than the closing date of the exam period, and all examination results must be submitted to Student Administration on or before the closing date of submission of marks.

The head of the department determines:

  • whether a candidate will be admitted to a supplementary examination, provided that a supplementary examination is granted, only once in a maximum of two prescribed semester modules or once in one year module.
  • the manner in which research reports are prepared and examined in his/her department.

Supplementary examinations (if granted) cover the same subject matter as was the case for the examinations.
A student may not enrol for the same module more than once, unless the dean has approved a second enrolment based on an application supported by a valid reason or motivation. Also refer to General Academic Regulation G18.3.

NB: Full details are published in each department's postgraduate information brochure, which is available from the relevant head of department. The minimum pass mark for a research report is 50%.

Subject to the provisions of G26, the subminimum required in subdivisions of modules is published in the study guides, which are available from the relevant head of department.

Minimum credits: 120

Credits to the amount of 120 must be obtained - 105 from core modules and 15 from elective modules.

Core modules

  • Module content:

    Introduction the food system, food system dynamics, marketing and the food value chain, global food marketing trends, marketing strategies and plans, consumer behaviour & marketing research, collecting information, forecasting demand, conducting market research, consumer research tools, marketing of agricultural products, risk in agricultural commodity marketing, connecting with customers, building strong brands, creating value, food franchising. food quality, labelling & food safety, intellectual property and geographical indicators, delivering value, supply chain management, contract growing, conducting marketing responsibility for long-term success, communicating value. Marketing in the 21st century. Case study analysis, industry case study.

    View more

  • Module content:

    Strategic management in agriculture. Dynamics of agricultural management. Entrepreneurship. Environmental scanning. Productivity measurement and improvement thereof by the organisation of manpower, capital and financial sources. Business growth. Formulation and implementation of competitive strategy. Corporate governance, strategic analysis and strategic choice, strategy implementation, balanced scorecard.

    View more

  • Module content:

    Agricultural finance. Economic theory underlying agricultural finance and agricultural finance institutions. Supply and demand of agricultural financial services. Servicing the farm and the agricultural business firm. Agricultural finance within the broader financial market in South and Southern Africa. Risk assessment and management. Risk in agricultural finance and mitigation strategies.

    View more

  • Module content:

    In this module students have to select a specific agribusiness and analyse one key dimension of this business. This dimension could be: marketing programme, supply chain management, strategic plan, market analyses, etc. This component of the course should serve as an opportunity for students to identify prevalent problems in an agribusiness and to devise appropriate solutions. This module should have a practical onslaught with a case study approach. It is envisaged that the student will have to work in close cooperation with companies and professionals in the industry, with the written report as the final deliverable of the the case study.

    View more

  • Module content:

    WTO/GATT-1994 and agricultural related Agreements and Understandings.  Regionalism and trade blocks.  International trade and economic development.  South Africa's agricultural trade policy.  Involvement in bilateral and plurilateral agreements.  Application of international market analysis tools.  International trade and tariff statistics, trade modelling, theory and familiarity in international and regional databases.  The module covers the basic tools to understand what determines the flow of goods across countries, i.e.  international trade, and applications to a number of topics of current interest, including the debate on globalisation, free trade agreements, the SA Current account and the medium run prospects for exchange rates.

    View more

  • Module content:

    Agricultural supply chain analysis. Explore the evolution of supply chain management in the global food industry. Establish the different ways in which supply chain management can provide a source of competitive advantage at industry level and for individual firms. Examine the crossfunctional and multidisciplinary nature of supply chain management as it applies in the global food industry. Introduce the core elements of the theoretical literature on supply chain management and consider applications in different sectors. Provide students with practical experience in applying the principles of supply chain management to the exploitation of a marketing opportunity, using case examples from the fresh produce and meat sectors. Provide students with practical experience of undertaking a supply chain audit, with a view to establishing an appropriate business strategy for a food manufacturing company.

    View more

Elective modules

  • Module content:

    An introductory yet comprehensive course in econometrics, encompassing an in-depth examination of elementary statistics and regression analysis. This includes the fundamentals of simple and multiple regression analyses, as well as estimation, inference and hypothesis testing. Considerable attention is devoted to practical applications on current economic issues and examples drawn from the applied economic literature.

    View more

  • Module content:

    An advanced course in econometrics that goes beyond elementary statistics and regression analysis. This includes in-depth analyses of the theory and application of stationarity, unit roots and co-integration in single equations. In addition to this, the concepts of qualitative analysis, cross-sectional modelling and simultaneous-equation modelling are dealt with.

    View more

  • Module content:

    Advanced production economics
    (a) Primal approach: Structure of the production technology and properties, elasticity of substitution, homogeneity and returns to scale, separability, estimation of technology parameters and testing hypothesis about properties, functional forms.
    (b) Normative supply analysis: Applications of linear programming to farm supply decisions.
    (c) Dual approach: The profit function, the cost function, duality and technology structure, estimation and hypothesis testing.
    (d) Positive supply analysis: Econometric specification of output supply and factor demand, restrictions from technology structure (homogeneity, etc.), aggregate supply analysis.
    (e) Risk and uncertainty: Mean-variance analysis applications in agricultural production, stochastic dominance; MOTAD and quadratic programming.

    View more

  • Module content:

    Advanced rural finance. Economic theory underlying rural financial markets and institutions. Economic growth and financial services. Supply and demand of financial services in rural areas. Rural financial institutions and application to South and Southern Africa.

    View more

  • Module content:

    a) Project planning and priority setting (project concept to rural socioeconomic development, logical framework analysis, research priority setting methods, strategic planning, scenario planning).
    b) Economic analysis of agricultural development projects through CBA (decision making in public and private sectors, financial, social and economic considerations; identification of Cs and Bs, valuation of Cs and Bs; project assessment criteria.
    c) Monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment (process and program monitoring, MandE systems; causality, incrementality and the attribution problem; impacts assessment methodology.
    d) Project management (scheduling, techniques for management, managing risk and uncertainty, monitoring performance
    e) Welfare economics and political economy considerations (Pareto optimality, compensation tests, efficiency and distribution, politics of CBA, development projects vs. development policies, first vs. second best shadow prices,  market failure)

    View more

  • Module content:

    The core concepts of microeconomic theory will be the focus of the module, including: demand and supply, consumer theory, firm theory, markets and market structure, general equilibrium, information economics and behavioural economics. Applications of this theory will feature prominently.

    View more


The regulations and rules for the degrees published here are subject to change and may be amended after the publication of this information.

The General Academic Regulations (G Regulations) and General Student Rules apply to all faculties and registered students of the University, as well as all prospective students who have accepted an offer of a place at the University of Pretoria. On registering for a programme, the student bears the responsibility of ensuring that they familiarise themselves with the General Academic Regulations applicable to their registration, as well as the relevant faculty-specific and programme-specific regulations and information as stipulated in the relevant yearbook. Ignorance concerning these regulations will not be accepted as an excuse for any transgression, or basis for an exception to any of the aforementioned regulations.

Copyright © University of Pretoria 2024. All rights reserved.

FAQ's Email Us Virtual Campus Share Cookie Preferences