Collaborative Masters in Agricultural and Applied Economics (CMAAE)

Nature of the Programme CMAAE Participating Universities Qualifications and Requirements Participating Universities

The CMAAE is a full-time course study with the first two semesters comprising core courses taught at the accredited university offering the degree. Upon successful completion of the core courses, all students assemble at the Shared Facility for Specialization and Electives (SFSE) – now virtual since the advent of the COVID19 pandemic- to study elective courses and engage in thesis development in the third semester. The students then return to their host universities to complete thesis research and graduate. Upon graduation, the alumni are further engaged in dissemination and internship activities when resources allow.

The Course Structure

Semester I and II Core courses taught at the degree-awarding institution in the first year for a period of 9 – 12 months.
Semester III Elective courses intensively taught by African scholars and leading international experts for a period of 16 weeks at the CMAAE Shared Facility for Specialization and Electives (SFSE).
Semester IV Thesis Writing at the respective degree awarding institutions for a period of 9 months in the second year of studies after completion of core and elective courses.
Post-graduation, the alumni are supported to share their thesis research findings in national thesis dissemination workshops, where farmers, mid-level policy makers, and development partners, among others, participate for dialogue and discussion of the implications of the research outputs.
The graduates are also supported to undergo an internship programme at reputable institutions for induction into the work environment of agricultural policy research, policy formulation and implementation.

CMAAE Core Courses

Microeconomics	Econometrics
Mathematics for Economists	Macroeconomics
Production Economics	Institutional and Behavioural Economics
Research Methods in Agricultural and Applied Economics

CMAAE Elective Courses

The CMAAE programme has a rich menu of 20 elective courses spread over four cluster or specialization areas, namely Agribusiness Management, Agricultural and Rural Development, Agricultural Policy and Trade, and Environmental and Natural Resource Management. Each of the specialization areas has a foundation course, one or two common courses and three to four elective courses as presented below.

*Foundation Courses*
Agribusiness Management	Agricultural Policy Analysis
Agricultural and Rural Development	Environmental Valuation and Policy
*Common Courses*
Agricultural Finance and Risk Management	Agricultural Marketing and Price Analysis
International Agricultural Trade and Policy	Natural Resource Economics and Management
Operations Research in Agribusiness Management	Microfinance, Financial Inclusion and Small Enterprise Development
*Elective Courses*
Agribusiness Marketing Management	Agricultural Project Planning and Management
Agribusiness Supply Chain Management	Economics of Climate Change
Agricultural Science and Technology Policy Analysis	Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
Farming Systems and Sustainable Livelihood Analysis	Food Security and Nutrition Policy Analysis
Quantitative Methods for Policy Analysis	Gender and Economic Development

A total of 17 public universities in 13 Eastern, Central and Southern African countries participate

in CMAAE. These universities are classified into two categories, category A and category B. Students in category A universities enroll for CMAAE studies in any of the 8 category B universities that are accredited to offer core courses and supervise theses research. The students in category B universities then jointly undertake elective courses at the Shared Facility for Specialization and Electives (SFSE) for a period of four months upon completion of their core courses. Apart from admitting and issuing degrees, the CMAAE non-accredited departments participate in all other programme activities including faculty research, faculty retooling, Academic Advisory Boards, and curriculum reviews, among others.

Application for Admission and Scholarships

Call for CMAAE scholarship applications are posted on the AERC website in February each year. An applicant must have an admission letter from a CMAAE-accredited (Category B) University whose contact details are below. To enable cost effectiveness of scholarship awards, nationals with CMAAE-accredited universities in their countries are required to apply for admission to those universities. However, nationals who don’t have CMAAE-accredited universities are encouraged to apply to an accredited University of their choice.

Contacts of CMAAE Admitting Universities

Chair, Department of Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness Management Egerton University Njoro, KENYA Prof. Hillary K. Bett: hillary.bett@egerton.ac.ke and agec_agbm@egerton.ac.ke University website: Egerton University	Head, School of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Haramaya University Dire Dawa, ETHIOPIA Dr. Sime Shiferaw: simeroka@gmail.com University website: \| Haramaya University
Head, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (LUANAR) Bunda, MALAWI Dr. Horace Phiri: hphiri@luanar.ac.mw University website: LUANAR	Head, Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics Makerere University Kampala, UGANDA Dr. Rosemary Isoto: emegur@gmail.com University Website: Makerere University \| We Build for the Future
Head, Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Sokoine University of Agriculture, Morogoro, TANZANIA Dr. Fulgence Mishili: fmishili@sua.ac.tz University Website: Sokoine University	Head, Department of Agricultural Economics University of Nairobi, Nairobi, KENYA Prof. Jonathan Nzuma: j.nzuma@uonbi.ac.ke University website: University of Nairobi \| Committed to Scholarly Excellence (uonbi.ac.ke)
Head, Department of Agricultural Economics, Extension & Rural Development University of Pretoria Pretoria, SOUTH AFRICA Prof. Wale Edilegnaw Zegeye: ew.zegeye@up.ac.za University website:UP \| University of Pretoria	Head, Department of Agricultural Business Development and Economics University of Zimbabwe Harare, ZIMBABWE Dr. Edward Mutandwa mutandwa.edward@gmail.com and jmushore@gmail.com University website: UZ \| University of Zimbabwe
University of eSwatini Kwaluseni, eSwatini Dr. Sotja Graham Dlamini: sotja2@yahoo.com University Website: eSwatini	Stellenbosch University Stellenbosch, South Africa Prof. Andre Jooste: joostea@sun.ac.za University Website: Stellenbosch University

To qualify, candidates must:

Have applied and been admitted to any one of the CMAAE-accredited (category B) universities listed above and obtained an admission letter;
Have attained at least a Second-Class Honours (Upper Division) or equivalent in Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness management or related field from a recognized university; and
Female and applicants from post-conflict and fragile states are highly encouraged to apply.

Applications for admission to the CMAAE programme should be sent directly to the degree-awarding universities whose website links and addresses are provided above.

Upon receipt of an admission letter, the scholarship application can be made. Visit https://training.aercafrica.org/

BSc. certificate and transcripts
Admission letter
CV
Cover letter

A total of 17 public universities in 13 Eastern, Central and Southern African countries participate in CMAAE. These universities are classified into two categories, category A and category B. Students in category A universities enroll for CMAAE studies in any of the 8 category B universities that are accredited to offer core courses and supervise theses research. The students in category B universities then jointly undertake elective courses at the Shared Facility for Specialization and Electives (SFSE) for a period of four months upon completion of their core courses. Apart from admitting and issuing degrees, the CMAAE non-accredited departments participate in all other programme activities including faculty research, faculty retooling, Academic Advisory Boards, and curriculum reviews, among others.