International Rural Development (IRD)

The International Rural Development programme offered at Lincoln University aligns with the University’s focus on land and with the Millennium Development Goals of ending extreme poverty and hunger and promoting environmental sustainability. The recent food price crisis highlighted two important lessons for pro-poor economic growth:  First, there has been relatively little investment in agriculture in the past two decades, especially in poor countries. Second, opportunities created by rising world food prices were not captured by smallholders in these countries. Global food security and political stability will be severely tested if smallholders in poor countries do not benefit from and respond to rising food prices. In 2008 the international community prioritised investment in agriculture and the formation of sustainable community organisations to link small producers with markets and to manage shared natural resources like communal forest, fisheries, grazing and eco-tourism amenities. These themes form the basis of IRD research at Lincoln University and also its teaching, in conjunction with more generic subjects like project planning and research methodology.

International Rural Development draws on courses offered by a wide variety of Departments in the Faculties of Commerce and Environment, Society and Design (ESD). Supervisors are drawn from these Faculties and the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences (AGLS) depending on the research topic. Students working on development topics also benefit from the activities of LUCID, Lincoln University’s Centre for International Development. LUCID publicises development research undertaken by Lincoln’s staff and students, and secures contracts that finance postgraduate research.

Students that specialise in International Rural Development, or who take courses offered by the programme, tend to have undergraduate backgrounds in:

• Agriculture, Forestry and other applied sciences
• Agribusiness, Economics, Finance, Management and Marketing
• Environmental or Natural Resource Management

The vast majority of these students come from the Pacific Island Countries, South East Asia and South Asia, and many work for government and non-government development agencies and the private sector. The programme prepares students to work at an applied level (for example planning, managing and evaluating rural development projects), as researchers, or as advisors at the planning and policy levels.

Six 600-level courses must be taken towards a Masters degree. Students usually take three courses per semester and complete their course work in the first year of a two-year Masters degree. In this case, the second year is dedicated to a full research thesis. Courses may also be recommended for PhD candidates. Lincoln University is known internationally for its applied and professional approach to teaching, and many of the courses involve field trips and guest lectures.
 
At present, the following core courses are offered to postgraduate students specialising in IRD. Other students who have an interest in IRD also tend to take one or more of these core courses:

• MGMT 615: Planning International Development Programmes
• MGMT 628: Agribusiness in Developing Economies
• MGMT 611: Management Research Methods

These courses are often complemented with one or more of the following courses, depending on the student’s choice of degree and research topic:

• ECON 603: Development Economics
• ERST 636: Aspects of Sustainability: An International Perspective
• MAST 603: Māori Resource Management
• MGMT 627: Advanced Agribusiness Management
• TOUR 603: Tourism Management
• SOCI 601: Social Science Research Methods (Quantitative)

Most students specialising in IRD register for the Master of Applied Science or the Master of Commerce (Agricultural) degrees. These two-year degrees offer the student maximum flexibility when selecting courses for the first year of study. At present, it is also possible to complete a Masters of Applied Science specialising in IRD in just 12 months. In this case, a research project (dissertation) is substituted for the thesis. Typically, these candidates conduct their field work immediately after completing their course work in November and submit their dissertations before the end of February the following year. Students taking the one year option have less flexibility in their choice of courses and are obliged to register for all three core IRD courses.

Masters students specialising in other fields such as Tourism and Natural Resource Management and who are researching topics related to international development often include one or more of the core IRD courses in their curriculum.

Typically these students register for the:

• Master of Environmental Policy,
• Master of International Nature Conservation,
• Master of Natural Resources Management and Ecological Engineering,
• Master of Parks, Recreation & Tourism Management,
• Master of Resource Studies,
• Master of Social Science or
• Master of Tourism Management degrees.

IRD graduates tend to pursue careers with government and non-government rural development organisations, AID agencies and development banks, research and teaching institutions, agribusiness and consulting firms, and in business ventures of their own. Past graduates occupy senior positions in public and private sectors, both internationally and in New Zealand.  The following examples indicate a range of employers and jobs:

• Director of Fisheries, Indonesia
• Senior Policy Analyst, New Zealand iwi Authority
• Assistant Director of a University Research and Extension Agency, Samoa
• Forest Landscape Restoration Project Co-ordinator, WWF  - Argentina
• Marketing, Fresh Produce  Agency - PNG
• Programme Assistant, UNDP, Mexico
• Community Forestry Advisor, GTZ – Nepal

• Michael Lyne (Associate Professor in International Rural Development, Faculty of Commerce)
• Hamish Rennie (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Environment, Society and Design Division; and Theme Leader for Human Dimensions of Fisheries & Aquaculture, LEaP)
• Bruce McKenzie (Professor and Dean, Faculty of Agricultural and Life Sciences)

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