FUNDAMENTALS OF AGRI-FOOD PRODUCTION SYSTEMS
UNBI
Course Aims
Main aim of the course is to:
- Acquire knowledge and skills in the field of sustainable food production systems with the focus on efficient and rational use of resources in every aspect of production – from primary agricultural production, processing, to distribution and consumption;
- Understand current food production systems and challenges they face (sustainable production and consumption);
- Make predictions in order to maximise sustainability;
- Understand new approaches in food production and be able to critically analyse them (retrieve, apprehend, apply).
Learning outcomes:
Upon successful completion of the course, the student will be able to:
- Identify and analyse factors that affect the production and consumption of food locally and globally, today and in the future;
- Know and classify the prerequisites for food production and supply chain, within primary production processing and distribution;
- Compare aspects of conventional and organic farming and know the value of agricultural products within them;
- Evaluate and solve problems in primary agriculture production and food industry related to sustainable food production and supply chain, and describe and evaluate the environmental, social and economic aspects of sustainable food production;
- Recognize current inefficiently used resources in food production, discover the potential of new ones;
- Analyse and assess agri-food systems from a consumer perspective;
- Explain the overall purpose and principles of life cycle assessment (LCA in the context of agri-food systems, describe the content and explain the purpose of the analytical steps of LCA, and understand the results of the LCA analysis.
Requirements
Some background in agriculture engineering, food sciences and food chemistry are recommended.