LECTURE(S):    G.D. MIDIMU    TEACHING/TUTORIAL ASSISTANT:
LECTURE TIMES:             WEDNESDAY: 11.00-12.00 HRS
                                           FRIDAY   : 10.00 11:00 HRS
PRACTICAL/LABORATORY:            MONDAY   : 12.00-13:00, 14.00-16:00
CONSULTATION TIMES:                 WEDNESDAY: 12.00-13.00 HRS
                                                          FRIDAY:   11.00-12.00 HRS
                                                          OTHER TIMES: By appointment

NATURE OE THE COURSE
Farm (Business) Management is multi-disciplinary area of study that integrates and applies the knowledge gained from economics, crop and animal sciences courses to studying principles and techniques of managing, planning, and analyzing a farm business. The focus is on (a) developing an understanding of the basic economic theory underlying resource allocation problems an the farm; (b) application of economic principles to organization and management of both large and communal area farms with emphasis on choice of optimal enterprise combinations to meet household goals and (c) understanding the role and factors influencing farm decision making.

Farm (Business) Management is an applied area of study is a core course for students majoring in Agricultural Economics and a required course for students majoring in Animal Science and Crop Science options students and an elective course for Crop Science option students.

The Course allows some specialization in farm (business) management for students who aim to go into careers in practical agriculture, farm management consultancy and advisory services.

BACKGROUND FOR THE COURSE
The course requires students to be familiar with basic economics principles, and basic crop and livestock production principles gained from work experience, Saturday practical agriculture and introductory courses in crop and livestock production. The course is therefore ideally taken in crop and livestock production. The course is therefore taken in Year II or III of the BSc program.

COURSE FORMAT
Farm (Business) Management is a field of applied science placing high Value on practically, reality and relevance. Students should learn how   to apply management principles to decisions with relevance to the Zimbabwean agricultural sector. In addition to attending lectures, students spend one afternoon per meek on group project exercises or practicals. These include case studies and farm management games to re-
enforce and illustrate concepts covered in class. In order to increase students’ practical knowledge on farming and farm management guided visits to different farm types are undertaken. Farm visit reporters are required.
Visiting lectures are invited to expose students to current issues and problems in farm management to re-enforse course objectives.
To meet the course objectives, the course requires 150 hours of lecture and practical hours.
The course is split into independent but integrated modules. The first module covers farm resource planning and management. This imparts basic principles essential for understanding farm management as an ares of study and its application.
The second module incorporates techniques for analyzing the performance of farm business and factors determining the performance.

MODULE I:
Farm Resource Planning and Management

Structure: 15 lecture weeks
   2 lecture hours/week
   3 lab hours/week
Total     = 75 contact hours

Module Objectives

• To provide an introduction to farm business management concepts   with reference to both large scale commercial area farming systems;
• To apply basic economic principles to decision-making in a farm management context;
• To identify and apply costs concepts and budgeting techniques related to farm planning and decision-making;
• To acquaint students with the principles and techniques of managing farm production resources.

Content
1.   Introduction to the course (3 lectures = 1 week)
1.1 Definition and importance of farm management
1.2 Relationships between farm management and other courses and disciplines

2.   Role of Management on a farm (3 lectures = 1 week)
2.1 Functions of management in farming
2.2 Farm decision process
2.3 Factors influencing farm decision making
2.4 Managerial approaches on large scale and communal area farms

3.   Farm Planning: Concepts and Principles (3 lectures = 1 week)
3.1 Basic economic principles applied to farm management
3.2 Cost concepts

4.   Farm Planning: Resource Inventory and Planning (9 lectures = 3 weeks)
4.1 Farm resources and factors of production
4.2 Crop and livestock production planning
4.3 Labor planning
4.4 Machinery and animal draft power planning
4.5 Input requirement for crop and livestock enterprise
4.6 Farm planning tools/techniques, e.g. linear programming
4.7 Relevance and importance of resource planning techniques to the different family systems in
     Zimbabwe

5.   Farm Planning: Financial Planning and Budgeting (9 lectures = 3 weeks)
5.1 Enterprise Gross Margin Budgeting
5.2 Partial Budgeting
5.3 Break-even Budgeting
5.4 Complete budgeting (whole-farm budgeting)
5.5 Cashflow budgeting
5.6 Relevance and importance of financial planning and budgeting techniques to commercial and
      communal farming units; and development and project planning

6.   Application of Advanced Decision Planning/Management Tools (6 lectures = 2 weeks)
6.1 Linear programming
6.2 Risk Analysis

7.   Farm Resource Management and Economics (9 lectures = 3 weeks)
7.1 Labor management and economics
7.2 Machinery management and economics
7.3 Capital (credit) Management and Economics
7.4 Farm Inflation system management

8.   Module I Examination

MODULE II:
Farm Business Analysis and Environment

Course Outline

Structure: 15 lecture weeks
               2 lecture hours per week
               3 laboratory hours per week
Total       75 contact hours
                                                                                                                                                Objectives
 

• To present means of evaluating the performance of farming operations and of monitoring or            measuring the performance of the farm business vs. farm/household goals;
• To consider social, economic and institutional factors that influence farm decision making and farm business performance;
• To provide students with perspective for identifying production, finance and marketing problems faced by farmers;
• To analyze and expose students to successful farms in Zimbabwe with examples drawn from the commercial, small scale commercial and communal sub-sector.

2.   Economics of Crop and Livestock Production Systems (12 lectures = 4 weeks)
2.1 Economics of crop production systems and factors influencing profitability
2.2 Economics of livestock production systems and factors influencing profitability
2.3 Economics of horticultural producer systems and factors influencing profitability

3.    Application of Farm Management Principles and Techniques (12 lectures = 4 weeks)
3.1 Marginal and partial budget analysis techniques
3.2 Economic analysis of agronomic and livestock trials and new technologies
3.3 Economics evaluation of farm business investment and projects

4.   Farm Business Environment and Problems (9 lectures = 3 weeks)
4.1 Typology of farmer problems in Zimbabwe
4.2 Farm management research methods for studying farmer performance and problems
4.3 Economic factors and their impact on farm performance/production
4.4 The government’s role and its influence on Farm Production and Management
4.5 The role of Agencies and Organizations Serving Farmers in Zimbabwe
5. Review (6 lectures = 2 weeks)

6. Exam as per UZ Calender