PURPOSE OF THE PROGRAMME

To address the demand of Information Technology techniques and analysis for Agricultural Systems in the areas of sustainable food production, natural resource management and overall economic growth.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

NORMAL ENTRY

Prospective students should have at least five ‘O’ Level passes including English Language, Science and at least a B in Mathematics and any two ‘A’ Level passes in the following subjects Agriculture, Mathematics, Economics, Management of Business, Sociology, Accounts, Geography and Biology.

SPECIAL ENTRY

Relevant Diploma based on departmental board evaluation.

CAREER OPPORTUNITIES AND FURTHER EDUCATION

Employability:             Private Sector – Land-use Planners, eCommerce System Designers, Data Base Designers, Supply Chain Managers, Commodity Brokers, Agribusiness Finance Managers, Consultants, Marketing Agents/Sales Representatives, Extensionists, education, real estate, and public relations.

Public Sector – Researchers (Applied Economists, Marketing Agents,) Extensionists, Lecturers, natural resource and environmental management, Education and Public Relations

Self-Employment – Farmers, Consultants

Further Studies:          Masters and Doctoral studies in Precision Agriculture, Information Technology, Agricultural Economics, Economics, Development, Policy

PROGRAMME STRUCTURE

• The degree programme shall have at least 32 taught modules spread over the six teaching semesters

Level 1 Semester 1

Code               Module Title                          Prerequisite                                                                                                                            Credits

AWS101         Agricultural Biology                                                                                       12

AGPR131       Practices in Farm Entrepreneurial skills 1                                                      6

CS131             Basic Communication Skills                                                                           12

HSC135          Introduction to Information Technology                                                        12

AGED131       Introduction to Agricultural Economics                                                         12

AGED133       Mathematics for Agricultural Economics                                                       12

AGED139       Introduction to Agricultural Planning & Development                                  12

 

Level 1 Semester 2

AGED132       Micro Economics for Agriculture                        AGED131                        12

AGED134       Macro-Economics for Agriculture                        AGED131                         12      

AGED105       Introduction to Rural Sociology                                                                                                                                 12

AGPR132       Practices in Farm Entrepreneurial Skills 2             AGPR131                       6

HAWS122      Principles of Animal Production                                                                    12

AGRO133       Principles of Crop Production                                                                        12

 

Level 2 Semester 1                                                     

HITAS201      Introduction to Biostatistics                                                                            12

HITAS202      Mathematics for Programming                                                                       12

HITAS203      Introduction to Content Management Systems                                              12

AGED232       Financial Management                                                                                   12

AEGS201       Gender Studies                                                                                               12

 

Electives         Choose 1

AGED201       Agri-Business Law                                                                                         12

AGED231       NGOs and Agricultural Development                                                            12

 

 

Level 2 Semester 2                                                    

Code               Module Title                                            Prerequisite                       Credits

HITAS 204     Programming for Internet and Mobile Devices                                              12

HITAS205      Data Base Systems                                                                                          12

HITAS206      Research Methods and Innovation Skills                                                        12

HITAS 207     Econometrics and Socio-economic Data analysis                                          12

AGED239       Project Management                                                                                       12

 

Electives         Choose 1

AGED237       Agribusiness Management                                                                             12

AGED238       Farm Business Management                                                                           12

           

Level 3 Semester 1: Work-Related Learning

*AGPR330     Work-Related Preliminary Report                                                                 30

 

 

Level 3 Semester 2: Work-Related Learning

*AGPR331     Work-Related Learning Report                                                                      45

*AGPR332     Employer’s Assessment Report                                                                      30

*AGPR333     Academic Supervisor’s Report                                                                       45

 

 

Level 4 Semester 1

 

HITAS401      Business Information Systems Design and ICT security                               12

HITAS402      Web Designing                                                                                               12

AGED432       Agricultural Policy Analysis                                                                           12

AGED405       International Trade                                                                                         12

AGED431       Agricultural Price Analysis and Forecasting                                                  12

 

Electives         Choose 1        

AGED437       Banking and Capital Markets                         AGED202                               12

AGED440       Econometrics 11                                             AGED209                               12

AGED412       Rural Development                                                                                         12

                                                                                    

Level 4 Semester 2

HITAS403      Geographical Information System                                                                  12

HITAS404      Operating Systems                                                                                          12

AGED413       Agriculture Value Chain                                                                                 12

HITAS 414     Dissertation                                         HITAS 205                                        24

           

Electives         (Choose 1)

AGED433       Entrepreneurship in Agriculture                                                                     12

AGED439       Agricultural Extension                                                                                   12

AGED436       Insurance and Risk Management in Agriculture                                            12

 

Module Synopsis

AGPR131 Practices in Farm Entrepreneurial Skills 1

This module gives first-year students in the field of Agriculture, a broad understanding of the fundamental entrepreneurial skills essential in starting a farming business. The module will also cover certain animal production enterprises such as ruminant production systems (beef, dairy, small ruminants); non-ruminant production systems (broilers, layers, piggery and rabbitry) and intensive wildlife management enterprises. A field trip shall take place.

AGPR132 Practices in Farm Entrepreneurial Skills 2

In addition to entrepreneurial skills learnt in AGPR102, students shall learn to finance a farming business, do cash flow budgets and apply for a successful bank loan. Production enterprises shall include the production of maize, wheat, leafy vegetables, onions, etc. Students shall also be exposed to the production of major flowers e.g. carnations and roses. Students shall be exposed to aspects of marketing, human resources, pricing, government policies and taxation. Students shall visit a crop production farm during each semester.

AGED 131 Introduction to Agricultural Economics

This module gives students knowledge of economic systems and organisation theory. The module will cover the following topics; economic systems and organization, theory of supply and demand, market equilibrium and nature of markets. In macroeconomics topics to be covered include the consumption, investment and savings functions, international economy and the role of the agricultural industry in the national economy.

AGED 132 Micro Economics for Agriculture

This module gives students knowledge on the economics of agricultural production. The main areas to be covered include physical and economic relations, The factor- product relationship, the factor-factor relationship, the product- product relationship, the product supply and input demand; efficiency of resource use, technical, allocative and economic efficiency.

AGED 133 Mathematics for Agricultural Economics

The module is designed to give students a basic understanding of mathematical tools and techniques required in economics, policy formulation and business decision-making. The module seeks to show the relevance of mathematical tools/concepts such as integration linear algebra, differentiation and optimization theory in the field of economics. Trigonometry, probability, functions, graphs, solving equations, matrix algebra, multivariate calculus, differentiation and integration

AGED 134 Macro Economics for Agriculture

The module will look into the branch of economics at the national level through variables such as macro-economic issues, inflation, the gross national product, employment, national accounting, demand/supply, national economics equilibrium, monetary policy, bank rate, foreign currency reserves and balance of payments, foreign currency exchange market, food policy, agricultural policies, and production theories and agriculture at the elementary level.

CS131 Basic Communication Skills

Refer to the Department of Communication Skills

HCS135 Introduction to Information Technology

Refer to the Department of Computer Science

AWS101 Agricultural Biology

Refer to the Department of Livestock and Wildlife Management.

AGED 135 Introduction to Rural Sociology

The modules will equip students with the skill of examining rural social systems, and structures and how they impact positively or negatively on development and examining social change theories and how they relate to the development discourse

AGED139 Agricultural Development and Planning

This course focuses on the role of agriculture in economic development and how to develop appropriate interventions to improve the role of the sector at different stages of economic growth. Topics to be covered include the role of agriculture in economic development – product contribution, market contribution, factor contribution and foreign exchange contribution; agricultural development models and agriculture in developing and developed countries.

HAWS 122 Principles of Animal Production

Refer to the Department of Animal and Wildlife Sciences.

AGRO133 Principles of Crop Production

Refer to the Department of Agronomy.

AGED 201 Agri-Business Law

The module covers the following aspects as a matter of principles of law but more so as they apply to the current challenges in the agricultural sector; sources of law, contract law, operations and marketing, modes of access to land, the law of agency, challenging of agency and employment contracts.

AGED 232 Financial Management

The modules will equip students with the skill of examining of managing financial resources in an agricultural entity. The main areas to be covered include sources of agricultural finance in Zimbabwe, interest rates, capital budgeting and appraisal techniques, Cash flow budgeting and contracting as a source of financing.

HITAS 201 Introduction to Biostatistics

The overall aim of the module is to provide students with an understanding of the nature and structure of data and data collection, and a good working knowledge of basic descriptive statistics and inference.

HITAS 202 Mathematics for Programming

The module covers pure mathematical tools used in economics. It covers number systems, set algebra, functions, equilibrium analysis, matrix algebra, and differentiation with a focus on maxima, minima and applications, unconstrained and constrained optimization, and various applications to the field of agriculture.

HITAS 203 Introduction to Content Management Systems

The module introduces the concept of a Content Management System (CMS) and why it is widely used in the market. Components of CMS, Features of CMS, Advantages and disadvantages of CMS.

HITAS 204 Programming for Internet and Mobile Devices 

This module introduces Android-based operating systems frameworks, architecture, design and engineering issues, and methodologies for developing applications for smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices. It covers memory and power management, user interface design for mobile devices and unique user interactions using multi-touch technologies, object-oriented design using model-view-controller paradigm, event handling, animation, audio and video, multi-threading, networking, data storage, and performance considerations.  

HITAS 205 Data Base Systems

This module consists of two main components namely data structure, algorithms, and data base systems. The Data structure and algorithms focuses on logical structures of data as well as the design, implementation and analysis of algorithms operating on these structures and their application to solving practical problems. The module covers basic and essential topics in data structures, including array based lists, linked lists, skip lists, hash tables, recursion, binary trees, scapegoat trees, red–black trees, heaps, sorting algorithms, graphs, and binary tree. Data base systems introduces the basic concept of data management and guides towards the concepts of its application. It includes representing information with the relational database model, manipulating data with an interactive query language (SQL) and database programming, database development including internet applications, and database security, integrity and privacy issues.

 HITAS 206 Research and Innovation Skills  

The module is designed to shape students to have an understanding of the importance of multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary partnerships in research and innovation, to appreciate the different tools, software packages, methods and approaches in data analysis and to be able to draw conclusions. The module will capacitate students with skills to implement context-specific ‘hands-on’ research activities under targeted conditions (e.g. archival, field, laboratory, industrial, civil and commercial conditions). Students will learn to structure and compose various types of professional documents relevant to their professions such as case study reports, community project reports, grant proposals, letters, memos, curriculum vitae, feature articles, minutes, survey research reports and software manuals. Students will be moulded to be able to; articulate a research problem diagnosis and translate it into a good or service, identify and distinguish an innovation, explain intellectual property (IP) registration processes and identify opportunities for marketing IPs and package and present information for a wider audience using different approaches and technologies. Research proposal formulation, problem definition, methods of data collection, Questionnaire formulation, and interviewing techniques, sampling procedures for surveys, organisation and implementation of surveys, survey quality control, analyses and interpretation, results presentation. Software; SPSS, GENSTAT, SAS etc

HITAS 207 Econometrics and Socioeconomic Data Analysis

The module integrates economic theory, statistics and mathematics to analyze economic phenomena. The econometrics component covers the methodology of econometric research, correlation, Ordinary Least Squares, properties of Least Square Estimators and Multiple Regression. The socioeconomic data analysis part introduces students to SPSS, R, and STATA as software for practical data analysis for case studies.  

AGED 237 Agribusiness Management

The module seeks to appropriately recall all values from other modules and contextualize them to advantage. Agribusiness Management shall cover specific topics that include: Forms of business and analysis of business environment, Value chain in agricultural operations, Management principles, cooperate governance, Operations research and Agribusiness viability and analysis.

AGED 238 Farm Business Management

The modules will equip students with the skill of managing a farm business. It covers the following areas functions of management, forms of business organization in commercial agriculture, farm records and Information systems management, labour management farm planning and budgeting, gross Margin Analysis, partial budget, sources of agricultural finance, Government support schemes, contract production schemes, and management of working capital. Further, the course will cover farm accounting.

AEGS231 Gender Studies

The module empowers the students with knowledge and skills that enable them to be gender sensitive in the university, workplace and in all their social interactions. Topics covered include Understanding Gender, Theories of Gender Inequalities, Historical Development of Gender, Gender Analysis, and Gender Issues in Zimbabwe, Redressing Gender Imbalances, Empowerment and Strategies for creating a gender-responsive environment.  Every student has to pass the module in order to graduate.

AGED 239 Project Management

This module is about the modes and mechanisms through which development assistance is channelled, via investment in developing countries, for the promotion of agricultural and rural development. It is thus primarily about the rationale, context, and methods of planning, appraising and evaluating development projects and programmes. While the module emphasises financial and economic efficiency, other important issues in assessing project design and impact are presented.

AGED 231 NGOs and Agricultural Development

The modules will have knowledge of types of non – profit organisations in agricultural development, their registration, management structures of non – profit organizations, funding and financial management, scope, corporate governance and ethics in NGOs. The module also looks at civil society theory, farming systems, stakeholder consultations in agricultural development, and links with governmental and other developmental agencies.

HITAS 401 Business Information Systems Design and ICT Security

This module consists of two main components: Business Systems Analysis and Design: This component examines the analysis and design of business systems.  It introduces the systems development life cycle (SDLC), the fundamental four-phase model (planning, analysis, design, and implementation) common to all development projects. This includes business value creation; business systems requirements analysis and specification; logical and physical design of business systems. It overviews object-oriented systems analysis and design and describes the Unified Process and its extensions. Multimedia systems and applications: This is an introductory component in digital media. Students will be introduced to the principles and current technologies of multimedia systems. Issues in effectively representing, processing, and retrieving multimedia data such as sound and music, graphics, images and video will be addressed. The practical component of the course is organized around learning about and using various software for manipulating digital sound, digital images, and digital video. 

HITAS 402 Web Designing

The module introduces students to web concepts, and understand that the internet supports a range of services such as the World Wide Web (WWW), file transfer, email, and IM. Understand the relationship between the browser and the webserver. Html coding- learning how to create a web page, the basics of CSS- learning how to style and format web pages. Primary protocols, URL, hyperlink, web hosting etc. Web Publishing, Legal issues and general terms of use.

HITAS 403 Geographical Information System

The purpose of this module is to acquaint agricultural and environmental science students with fundamental principles and applications of Geographic Information Systems. The module provides the students with theoretical principles and techniques for handling and analyzing spatial data in the following application areas: natural resources management, agriculture, land management, water resources management; transport network systems; solid and liquid waste management; wildlife management, etc. The module is also designed to guide students to become thinkers regarding the use of spatial data/information to solve agricultural and environmental management challenges for informed decisions. After their successful completion of the module, the students should be able to use GIS technology in natural resources management, agriculture, land management, water resources management; transport network systems; solid and liquid waste management; and wildlife management, to provide goods and services at local, national, regional and global scales. For example, the students should be able to map Zimbabwe’s key natural resources.

HITAS 404 Operating Systems

Operating systems familiarize students with resource management and hardware abstraction, the different operating system types, hardware addresses and types of addresses.

AGED 432 Policy Analysis

This course offers a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding agricultural and food policy in Zimbabwe and the world. It examines the agricultural policy process in terms of rationale, content, and consequences. It thereby helps students develop a better understanding of policy-making entities at various levels of government. It also provides a broad understanding of how policy actions in agriculture impact not only farmers’ incomes but also the well-being of consumers.

AGED 433 Entrepreneurship in Agriculture

The modules will equip students with the skill of understanding the role of entrepreneurship in agricultural development and the economy. Topics to be covered include theories of entrepreneurship, processes of establishing a business, sources of funding, feasibility studies, planning production and marketing of enterprise and public policy.

AGED 435 International Trade and Policy           

The modules will equip students with theories and policies that guide international trade. This course allows students to learn why international trade is important for Zimbabwe and other nations, and they examine how it affects production, profit and the economy.

AGED 436 Insurance and Risk Management in Agriculture

The module looks at concepts of risk management in agriculture.  The main areas that are covered include theories and definitions of risk management, the measurement of risk,  the stochastic basis of risk, the Beta Risk adjustment methods and techniques used in dealing with risk, hedging against risk, and the future options and contracts.

AGED 437 Banking and Capital Markets

The course deals with the description of the activities of banks in agriculture, financial intermediaries, central banks, regulatory agencies, and monetary theory. Money market institutions. Capital market institutions. It shores up knowledge in bank management and capital markets as they relate to agriculture.

AGED 439 Agricultural Extension

The modules will equip students with the knowledge of the history of agricultural extension in Zimbabwe, mass media, kinesics, extension methods and training programme planning: projects, programmes and policy in agricultural extension, farmer participation in extension programme planning, monitoring and evaluation. The course further looks at donor organisations in agricultural development and extension, female extension agents and gender in agricultural development and extension.

AGED 440 Econometrics 11

This module in econometrics is designed to provide students with tools required to evaluate and carry out empirical research. It focuses on violation of classical liner regression model assumptions. Issues such as heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, model specification and multicollinearity are discussed. Modelling with dummy variables, simultaneous equation, time series and panel data econometrics will be studied.

AGED412 Rural Development

The module focuses on rural poverty alleviation, the role of agriculture and agro-industries in the improvement of the quality of rural lives, and social and economic development of rural areas, evaluation of alternative theories of rural development, and how to address hunger and rural poverty through innovations, infrastructural development, community participation, agro-processing and value addition. Attention is paid to the management of development institutions, participatory and integrated planning, infrastructure and physical resources.

HITAS 414 Dissertation

This is a scientific report of between 15 000 and 20 000 words, based on supervised research by the student. The dissertation should be presented to a panel of the Departmental Board,

AGED431 Agricultural Price Analysis and Forecasting

This course is aimed at developing an understanding of the principles of price theory and how these principles can be applied to problems in agriculture starting from the supply and demand of agricultural products. The role of price in agricultural production is examined at the onset. Specific topics include detailed analysis, modelling and forecasting of agricultural commodities prices. Students are also introduced to the modelling of market structures, market outlook and hedging and its effectiveness.