AEDE 4597 Food, Population and Environment

This course addresses population growth and the challenges it poses – in particular, the challenge of providing everyone with an adequate diet while simultaneously conserving the natural resources on which agriculture and other economic activities depend. Since human numbers are increasing more rapidly in poor countries than anywhere else, special attention is paid to population growth and the prospects for environmentally sound agricultural development in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. This course is also a writing course that requires students to write two relatively short technical papers on a developing country of their choice.

• To understand the elements of demand growth and their implications for food production;

• To understand the elements of food supply, including the role of technological development and land use change;

• To identify environmental tradeoffs associated with food production;

• To recognize how different agricultural policies influence food production and environmental outcomes;

• To understand the role of global trade on food prices and food security;

• To apply economic concepts to important policy issues like food security, health, biotechnology, and organic food production, among others;

• To be able to write clearly about population, food, and environmental issues related to a particular country.

Summer 2017