Specialisation: Agroecology

Due to concerns about the sustainability of conventional farming practices, food safety issues and pollution of the environment, there is an increasing demand for agricultural products that are produced in an environmentally-friendly and socially acceptable manner. In addition to the demand for organic products by consumers in industrialized countries, there is a need for ecological farming practices in low-income countries, since farmers in those regions cannot afford external inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers or expensive seeds. In the specialisation agroecology students learn to apply ecological principles to agriculture to create food production systems that work with nature and contribute to a.o. wildlife conservation, climate change mitigation and social justice.