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Career in Agriculture

Introduction and Career in Agricultural Economics

Introduction

Being an Agricultural Economist, I am in a better position to describe what agricultural economics is and also the scope and career opportunities that are open for the fresh graduates if they opt career in agricultural economics. However, like I always say, graduation degree doesn’t mean that you are going to get the job unless and until you have some set of skills that makes you prominent over the other candidates appearing in the job test and especially interview. These skills may include good communication skills, writing skills, sentence structuring, and practical knowledge about few specific and specialized software of your domain of specialization (in case of agricultural economics, STATA, SPSS and Excel). So don’t waste your time in idle things during a semester break. Equip yourself with some expertise related to your field of agricultural science.

This article provides a brief introduction and career in agricultural economics in an attempt to help the students in agricultural sciences during selection of their major subject.

Introduction to Agricultural Economics

Agricultural economics is the applied side of the subject Economics. So what is Economics? As we have learnt in our high schools text books and in literature that;

it is the allocation of scares resources between competing ends for

the maximization of those ends over time

This definition is best applicable to Agricultural Economics where we can define it as

Agricultural Economics is the economics applied to agriculture and rural areas

Why We Study Agricultural Economics?

The question here is that why we study Agricultural Economics? The reason is simple. Agriculture is a complex system that involves the management of natural resources and distribution of these resources among alternating uses in such a way to maximize the utility for benefit of human beings.

Agriculture is pivotal and fundamentally important to any society, nation etc. if we move to a larger canvass and look in the history of economic development, it is the agriculture that drove the cycle of economic development. In fact, industrial development, that catalysis the economic development in the modern day world, is based on agricultural. All the big economics i.e. the developing countries achieve the goal of economic development by using the shoulder of agriculture. Agriculture provides the food security that helps in focusing on other sectors of economy.

This importance of agriculture paved the path of development of a new subject within the domain of economics that is named now Agricultural Economics. It uses the economic principles in solving the issues in agriculture with the aim to improve the production as well as efficiency of agricultural processes.

Career in Agricultural Economics

This part of article provides the chief positions that an agricultural economist can get with at least bachelor degree in hand and knowledge and skills of basic statistic software like STAT, SPSS and Excel. However, acquiring a higher degree of Master level in agricultural economics (in some countries it is regarded as M.Sc. (HONS) or M. Phil) surely increases the chances of getting good job. 

Agriculture Economic Analysts

The most important function an agricultural economics perform is the forecasts of economic setting, with special interest on agriculture. In this type of job, agricultural economist has a closer look at the ongoing agricultural standing. Moreover he uses the information with respect to the economic situation. Then the data they gather is analyzed which results in offering of a sound advice and strategic options for agricultural businesses and individuals related to agriculture. The scope of this kind of job wide in both public and private sectors and the demand of agricultural economist equipped with sound knowledge of related software increases the chances of getting hired fast.

Food Companies

There is a fair chance of getting job in food companies if you opt for career in agricultural economics. These food companies need services of an agricultural economist as they require an expert for advising and strategizing decisions related to the raw ingredient they use in their product.

Teaching

Teaching as a career in agricultural economics is preferable over many other professions as it is a way of generating technical and skilled human capital in agricultural economics domain that can learn and serve in other parts of an economy effectively and efficiently. After completing the graduation, teaching career in agricultural economics usually starts at undergraduate level and so on. Being an agricultural economics and affiliated with teaching opens new horizon of research opportunities also.

World Bank

Highly skilled and qualified agricultural economists have a fair chance of getting employed by the World Banks as there are specific positions for agricultural economists there. They are involved mainly in the policy formulation portfolio in World Bank. They also analyses the data gathered from all over the world regarding agriculture. The data is used for analysis and forecasting future production and price trends.  

Agricultural Marketing

Agricultural marketing companies provide highly paid employment opportunities to the skilled and hardworking agricultural economist. They strategize the marketing options and opportunities for the marketing companies so to maximize the profit margins. Agriculture commodity marketing is vast. Value addition and value chain management are under the domain of an agricultural economist in agricultural marketing companies.

Other Career Opportunities in Agricultural Economics

In addition to these options, there are several other career opportunities in agricultural economics. These are provided by the;

  • Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO)
  • World Food Program (WFP)
  • United Nations Development Program (UNDP)
  • NGOs and INGOs
  • Government Ministries like Ministry of Finance, Planning and Development, Food Security, Climate Change, Agriculture etc. (Ministries name may vary in different countries; however the duties and functions needed by an agricultural economist remain the same).

There are several other opportunities when you select career in agricultural economics. However, due to limitations regarding this article, I have tried to encompass chief job opportunities. Hope this article will help the students and job seekers to make rational decision.

Cite this Article in APA Style as:

[box type=”note” align=”aligncenter” ]Rahman, M. A. (2018, March 18). Introduction and Career in Agricultural Economics [Blog Post]. Retrieved from http://aridagriculture.com/2018/03/18/introduction-and-career-in-agricultural-economics[/box]