Agricultural Economics & Rural Development
Farm economics, markets, policy, land, food security and rural livelihoods.
Agricultural economics applies economic methods to farming and food: farm management and profitability, agricultural markets and prices, risk and insurance, technology adoption, and the effects of agricultural and trade policy.
Rural development and food security research looks at land tenure and land reform, smallholder livelihoods, rural poverty and the bioeconomy - often with a strong regional focus, since institutions and farm structures differ widely between countries.
Studying agricultural economics & rural development
Degree programs in this subject often run under these names:
What you typically learn
- Farm management and accounting
- Agricultural markets, prices and trade
- Agricultural and food policy
- Marketing and supply chains
- Rural development and food security
- Econometrics and quantitative methods
Where graduates typically work
- Banks, insurers and agricultural finance
- Agribusiness, trade and cooperatives
- Farm management and consulting
- Ministries and international organizations
- Market analysis and research institutes
Curricula differ by country and institution - the program pages linked below have the details.
Where to study agricultural economics & rural development
102 programs in 31 countries. See all 102 programs
- Germany 36
- United Kingdom 9
- Australia 5
- Ireland 5
- United States 5
- Austria 4
- Canada 4
- France 3
- Chile 2
- Estonia 2
- Lithuania 2
- Netherlands 2
- New Zealand 2
- South Africa 2
- Spain 2
- Switzerland 2
- Argentina 1
- Belgium 1
- Czechia 1
- Finland 1
- Hungary 1
- Italy 1
- Japan 1
- Kenya 1
- Latvia 1
- Nigeria 1
- Poland 1
- South Korea 1
- Sri Lanka 1
- Uganda 1
- Zimbabwe 1
Where research is heading
Typical research questions
- How do agricultural policies and subsidies affect farm incomes, production and the environment?
- What determines whether farmers adopt new technologies?
- How can farms and rural households manage price and weather risk?
- How do land rights and tenure systems affect investment and productivity?
Publications per year
Papers whose main topic belongs to this field, 2010–2025.
Research fronts: fastest-growing topics
Papers 2024–2025 compared with 2021–2022, topics with at least 500 recent papers.
| Topic | 2021–2022 | 2024–2025 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Food Security and Socioeconomic DynamicsFood Security · Agriculture · Biodiversity · Gender Perspective | 1,431 | 3,436 | +140% |
| Agricultural risk and resilienceRisk Management · Vulnerability · Agriculture · Insurance | 3,808 | 5,731 | +50% |
| Agriculture, Land Use, Rural DevelopmentAgroecology · Food Sovereignty · Land Grabbing · Sustainable Agriculture | 4,205 | 5,767 | +37% |
| Agricultural Economics and PracticesAgriculture · Development · Policy · Production | 7,390 | 10,024 | +36% |
| Bioeconomy and Sustainability DevelopmentBioeconomy · Biomass · Bioenergy · Circular Economy | 3,211 | 4,040 | +26% |
| Agricultural economics and policiesAgricultural Economics · Rural Development · Sustainable Agriculture · Farm Management | 646 | 796 | +23% |
Largest topics
By number of papers 2024–2025.
- Agricultural Economics and PracticesAgriculture · Development · Policy · Production 10,024
- Rural Development and AgricultureAgriculture · Family Farming · Rural Policy · Food Security 8,797
- Agriculture, Land Use, Rural DevelopmentAgroecology · Food Sovereignty · Land Grabbing · Sustainable Agriculture 5,767
- Agricultural risk and resilienceRisk Management · Vulnerability · Agriculture · Insurance 5,731
- Bioeconomy and Sustainability DevelopmentBioeconomy · Biomass · Bioenergy · Circular Economy 4,040
- Rural development and sustainabilityRural Development · Agricultural Change · Social Innovation · Neo-Endogenous Development 3,751
Highly cited recent papers
Most-cited articles and reviews published 2024–2025. Citation counts favor reviews and papers published early in the window.
- GLOBAL AGRICULTURAL LOSSES AND THEIR CAUSES
- Valorisation of agro-industrial wastes: Circular bioeconomy and biorefinery process – A sustainable symphony
- Global spatially explicit yield gap time trends reveal regions at risk of future crop yield stagnation
- The political ecologies of "green" extractivism(s): An introduction
- Path2Green : introducing 12 green extraction principles and a novel metric for assessing sustainability in biomass valorization
- Digital transformation in SMEs: Understanding its determinants and size heterogeneity
New working papers and reports
Latest additions to AgEcon Search, the open repository for agricultural and applied economics - much of it never appears in a journal. More recent papers.
- When Housing Isn’t Secure: Access, Affordability, and Stability in the North Central Region
- Beyond Access: Understanding Food Insecurity in the North Central Region
- IFAD Research Series 95: Roadway to Growth - The Role of Infrastructure and Grants in Improving Livelihoods in Rural Montenegro
- Steering Carbon Farming Transition: An Agent-Based Exploration of Incentive Mechanisms
- Examining the Rural College Labor Market
- Biotechnology in U.S. Crop Production: A Primer on Adoption, Costs, and Regulatory Structure
All study programs in agricultural economics & rural development
- Gestion et technologies d'entreprise agricole (Farm Business Management and Technology, DEC) Diploma Institut de technologie agroalimentaire du Québec (ITAQ) · CanadaCollege / polytechnic Taught in French
- Agribusiness Diploma Lakeland College · CanadaCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- Uzņēmējdarbība lauksaimniecībā (Agricultural Entrepreneurship) Diploma LBTU Malnava College · LatviaCollege / polytechnic Taught in Latvian
- Licenciatura en Economía y Administración Agrarias (Agrarian Economics and Administration) Bachelor Universidad de Buenos Aires · Argentina Taught in Spanish
- Bachelor of Agricultural Science Bachelor Charles Sturt University · Australia Taught in English
- Bachelor of Business (Agribusiness) Bachelor Marcus Oldham College · AustraliaCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- Bachelor of Business (Agriculture) Bachelor Marcus Oldham College · AustraliaCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- Bachelor of Agricultural Science Bachelor The University of Sydney · Australia Taught in English
- Agricultural Sciences Bachelor BOKU University · Austria
- Agrar Next – Agrarbildung und Beratung (Agricultural Education and Extension) Bachelor University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy (HAUP) · AustriaUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agriculture (BSc) Bachelor Dalhousie University · Canada Taught in English
- Bachelor of Applied Science in Agribusiness Bachelor Olds College · CanadaCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- Agronomía (Agronomy; Ingeniero Agrónomo) Bachelor Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile · Chile Taught in Spanish
- Põllumajandussaaduste tootmine ja turustamine (Production and Marketing of Agricultural Products) Bachelor Estonian University of Life Sciences · Estonia Taught in Estonian
- Bachelor of Natural Resources, Agriculture and Rural Enterprises (Agrologist) Bachelor Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences · FinlandUniversity of applied sciences
- Bachelor Agro: Entreprendre, accompagner et manager en agriculture (Farm Entrepreneurship and Management) Bachelor Ecole d'Ingénieurs de PURPAN · France Taught in French
- Landwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor Anhalt University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- BWL – Handel – Agrarwirtschaft (Business Administration, Agribusiness; dual, Mosbach campus) Bachelor Baden-Württemberg Cooperative State University (DHBW) · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel · Germany Taught in German
- Ökolandbau & Vermarktung (Organic Agriculture and Marketing) Bachelor Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor HTW Dresden University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Germany Taught in German
- Agrarmanagement (Agricultural Management) Bachelor IU International University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · Germany Taught in German
- Nachhaltige Agrarwirtschaft (Sustainable Agriculture) Bachelor Kiel University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg · Germany Taught in German
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwirtschaft dual (Agriculture, combined with farmer vocational training) Bachelor Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor Nürtingen-Geislingen University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agribusiness Bachelor Rhine-Waal University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarmanagement (Agricultural Management; dual, Dresden campus) Bachelor Saxon Cooperative State University (DHSN) · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Bachelor TH Bingen University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor University of Bonn · Germany Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor University of Göttingen · Germany Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor University of Hohenheim · Germany Taught in German
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Bachelor University of Rostock · Germany Taught in German
- Landwirtschaft (Agriculture), Triesdorf campus Bachelor Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Landwirtschaft (Agriculture), Weihenstephan campus Bachelor Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Bachelor of Business (Hons) in Rural Enterprise and Agri-Business Bachelor Atlantic Technological University · IrelandUniversity of applied sciences Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) in Agriculture (with Teagasc) Bachelor Dundalk Institute of Technology · IrelandUniversity of applied sciences Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agricultural Science (with Teagasc) Bachelor South East Technological University · IrelandUniversity of applied sciences Taught in English
- Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons) (with Teagasc) Bachelor University College Cork · Ireland Taught in English
- Bachelor of Agricultural Science (Hons) in Dairy Business (with Teagasc) Bachelor University College Dublin · Ireland Taught in English
- Scienze e tecnologie agrarie (Agricultural Sciences and Technologies), Piacenza campus Bachelor Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore · Italy Taught in Italian
- Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics Bachelor Egerton University · Kenya Taught in English
- Agroverslų technologijos (Agribusiness Technologies) Bachelor Kaunas University of Applied Sciences (Kauno kolegija) · LithuaniaUniversity of applied sciences Taught in Lithuanian
- Agroverslo technologijos (Agribusiness Technologies) Bachelor Vilnius University of Applied Sciences (VIKO) · LithuaniaUniversity of applied sciences Taught in Lithuanian
- Agrarisch Ondernemerschap Tuinbouw & Akkerbouw (Agricultural Entrepreneurship) Bachelor Aeres University of Applied Sciences · NetherlandsUniversity of applied sciences Taught in Dutch
- International Development Management Bachelor Van Hall Larenstein University of Applied Sciences · NetherlandsUniversity of applied sciences
- Bachelor of Agriculture Bachelor Lincoln University · New Zealand Taught in English
- Bachelor of Agricultural Science (BAgSci) Bachelor Massey University · New Zealand Taught in English
- B.Agric (Agricultural Economics and Farm Management) Bachelor Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta · Nigeria Taught in English
- Agriculture Bachelor Warsaw University of Life Sciences · Poland
- BScAgric Agricultural Economics Bachelor Stellenbosch University · South Africa
- BScAgric Agricultural Economics / Agribusiness Management Bachelor University of Pretoria · South Africa Taught in English Program document (PDF)
- Agricultural Economics and Rural Development Bachelor Seoul National University · South Korea
- Grado en Ciencias Agrarias y Bioeconomía (Agricultural Sciences and Bioeconomy) Bachelor Universidad Politécnica de Madrid · Spain Taught in Spanish
- BSc (Hons) Agricultural Technology and Management Bachelor University of Peradeniya · Sri Lanka Taught in English Program document (PDF)
- Agronomy (Agronomie), BFH-HAFL Bachelor Bern University of Applied Sciences · SwitzerlandUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German and French (International Agriculture specialization in English)
- Bachelor of Science in Agriculture Bachelor Makerere University · Uganda Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agriculture (with placement) Bachelor Harper Adams University · United Kingdom Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agriculture Bachelor Hartpury University · United Kingdom Taught in English
- Agriculture BSc Bachelor Newcastle University · United Kingdom Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agriculture Bachelor Royal Agricultural University · United Kingdom Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agriculture Bachelor Scotland's Rural College · United KingdomCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- BSc Agricultural Business Management Bachelor University of Reading · United Kingdom Taught in English
- BSc Agriculture Bachelor University of Reading · United Kingdom Taught in English
- Agribusiness (BS) Bachelor Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College · United StatesCollege / polytechnic Taught in English
- Agricultural Science (B.S.) Bachelor Pennsylvania State University · United States Taught in English
- International Agricultural Development Bachelor University of California, Davis · United States Taught in English
- Agricultural and Food Business Management (B.S.) Bachelor University of Minnesota · United States Taught in English
- BSc (Hons) Agricultural Economics (Agribusiness Management) Bachelor University of Zimbabwe · Zimbabwe Taught in English
- Master of Agricultural Sciences Master The University of Melbourne · Australia Taught in English
- Agricultural and Food Economy Master BOKU University · Austria
- Agrarpädagogik und Beratung (Agricultural Education and Extension) Master University College for Agrarian and Environmental Pedagogy (HAUP) · AustriaUniversity of applied sciences Taught in German
- Master of Bioscience Engineering: Agro- and Ecosystems Engineering Master KU Leuven · Belgium Taught in English
- Magíster en Economía Agraria y Ambiental (Agricultural and Environmental Economics) Master Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile · Chile Taught in Spanish
- Agri-food Systems and Rural Development Master Czech University of Life Sciences Prague · Czechia
- Põllumajandussaaduste tootmine ja turustamine (Production and Marketing of Agricultural Products) Master Estonian University of Life Sciences · Estonia
- Cursus ingénieur (Agricultural Engineer) Master Ecole d'Ingénieurs de PURPAN · France Taught in French
- Ingénieur agronome (Agricultural Engineer) Master Institut Agro Montpellier · France Taught in French
- Landwirtschaft (Agriculture) Master Anhalt University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Master Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel · Germany
- Produktionsmanagement Agrarwirtschaft (Agricultural Production Management) Master HTW Dresden University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agricultural Economics Master Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Germany
- Integrated Natural Resource Management Master Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin · Germany Taught in English
- Agrar- und Ressourcenökonomie (Agricultural and Resource Economics) Master Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen · Germany
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Master Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg · Germany
- Agrarwirtschaft (Agriculture) Master South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agricultural and Food Economics (AFECO) Master University of Bonn · Germany Taught in English
- Agrarwissenschaften (Agricultural Sciences) Master University of Göttingen · Germany Taught in German
- Sustainable International Agriculture Master University of Göttingen · Germany Taught in English
- Agricultural Economics Master University of Hohenheim · Germany
- Agrarmanagement (Agricultural Management) Master Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences · GermanyUniversity of applied sciences
- Agricultural Economist (Gödöllő) Master Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences (MATE) · Hungary Taught in English
- International Program in Agricultural Development Studies (IPADS) Master The University of Tokyo · Japan Taught in English
- Máster Universitario en Ingeniería Agronómica (Agronomic Engineering) Master Universidad Politécnica de Madrid · Spain Taught in Spanish
- Agricultural Sciences Master ETH Zurich · Switzerland Taught in English
- MSc Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security Master Royal Agricultural University · United Kingdom Taught in English
- MSc Agricultural Economics Master University of Reading · United Kingdom Taught in English
- International Agricultural Development Master University of California, Davis · United States Taught in English