February 2015 New Agricultural Economics and Policy course being delivered by NUI Galway

Reflecting the growing influence of national and EU policies on farming life, a new course entitled Agricultural Economics and Policy is underway at NUI Galway.

Delivered through the Economics discipline at the University, the course is offered as part of the Natural Resource Economics and Policy Masters programme. As well as the Masters students who take this course as an option, the classes are also attended by Teagasc Walsh Fellow PhD candidates based in NUI Galway. The course puts particular focus on public policy analysis related to the development of the Irish agricultural sector and examines challenging policy questions such as the impacts of climate change on the sector, the impacts of EU Common Agricultural Policy reform and the economic concepts and models of relevance that are necessary to understand the global role of agriculture in economic systems.

A unique feature of the course is that it is delivered jointly by NUI Galway and Teagasc economists. The Athenry-based Rural Economy and Development Programme (REDP) Teagasc economists Dr Thia Hennessy, Trevor Donnellan and Dr Kevin Hanrahan are delivering a number of lectures on the course.

According to the Director of the Natural Resource Economics and Policy Masters programme, Dr Stephen Hynes of NUI Galway: “The participation of the Teagasc economists in the delivery of the course is a great opportunity for the students to see how agricultural economists use the economic tools, learnt during the course, to answer real world agricultural policy questions.”

The Masters programme is designed to develop the analytical modelling skills of economics graduates for future employment in private and public sector, enterprises concerned with the environment, agriculture, food, fisheries and other marine resources.

“Given that agriculture and food is a key element in the Irish economy and natural resource management is vital for the continued development of the sector it is important that we have students coming through with the tools to analyse the impact of policy and impact of possible environmental changes on the sector,” Dr Hynes added.

The head of the Teagasc Rural Economy and Development Programme, Professor Cathal O’Donoghue also sees great merit in the collaborative teaching approach stating: “There is already close ties between the Rural Economy and Development Programme of Teagasc and the Economics Discipline in NUI Galway with many joint research projects underway and a number of Walsh Fellowship PhD students under joint supervision and operating between both campuses; so it is great to see this collaboration extend to the teaching side as well.”

For those interested in this subject, the Masters course begins again in September 2015, with application due by the end of June. Further information on the Masters programme is available at http://www.nuigalway.ie/business-public-policy-law/cairnes/courses/taught/natural-resource-economics.html.  

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