The mission of the department is teaching, research and the initiation of extension activities that address and analyse the economic and social aspects of agriculture in tropical and subtropical areas leading to higher sustainability, resilience, diversification and profitability of farming systems, household economics and value-chains while maintaining sustainable use of natural, capital and human resources.
Our teaching activities are focused on the principles and analysis of farming systems, local and global value chains, marketing and consumer behaviour, the access of poor people to financial resources and agrarian policy.
Our research activities have the ambition to reflect how the changing economic environment in tropical and poor regions may influence the use of natural resources and the structure of farm production, to map the function and analyse the potential for the creation of both local and global value chains with special emphasis on traditional and not yet fully utilised plant species, to analyse consumer behaviour and the demand for these traditional agricultural products, the access of poor farmers to financial resources and the impact of agrarian policy on both households and ecosystems.
The vision of the department is to use the tools of institutional economics together with sound principles of market mechanisms to improve the living standards of farmers, maintaining their original heritage and the biodiversity of the tropics while enriching household consumption in both tropical areas as well as in European countries with better, healthier and more valuable agricultural products.
Department members are involved in following FTA research teams:
- Behavioral Studies in Agri-Food Sector
- Capacity Building & Agricultural Development Team
- Cooperative Research Group
- TRACE | Tropical Farming Systems & Ecological Economics
The department guarantees two programmes:
- bachelor´s degree programme International Cooperation in Agriculture and Rural Development (ICARD)
- master´s degree programme International Development and Agricultural Economics (IDAE)
