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Cultivate career success in the US$5 trillion global food and agribusiness industry.
With the world’s population set to reach 10 billion by 2050, there is growing demand globally for experts who can supply us with sustainable, quality and affordable food products.
Discover the commercial world behind agriculture
Agriculture is not just for subsistence. It is a business with the potential to shape the world’s future, both economically and environmentally – and if there were ever a time to get serious about agribusiness, it’s now.
Dr. Ammar Abdul Aziz, an “agripreneur” and Senior Lecturer at The University of Queensland (UQ), believes agribusiness professionals are essential to finding effective solutions to the global food security crisis. “There are a lot of definitions of agribusiness, but a simple way of looking at it is it’s everything to do with the production, distribution and marketing of food and fibre,” Abdul Aziz said. “Too often people look at agriculture and think it’s ‘just farming’, they don’t realise how large the agriculture sector is.”
Agriculture includes everything from supply chain management, distribution, financial planning, lending, insurance, commodity trading, through to natural resource management. “It makes sense that if we want to optimise farm production, minimise environmental impacts, improve product distribution and achieve the most profitable results we need people who have the right mix of business and agricultural knowledge,” Abdul Aziz said.
Dr Abdul Aziz’s own career in agribusiness started in Malaysia where he was a bird’s eye chilli farmer. “I really love durians and I was looking for a manual on how to plant them. The best one I found was from Australia, and that’s what sparked my interest to move here and learn more about agriculture,” Abdul Aziz said. “I took a leap of faith – I figured no matter what happens to the economy, people still need to eat and it was one of the best things I ever did. UQ is one of the best places in the world to study.”
These days, his research is primarily focused on finding ways to improve the livelihoods of smallholders in South East Asia, and his students are finding jobs all around the world. “One is a commodity broker in the US. There’s another one who created ice cream from banana waste,” said Abdul Aziz “I think that’s exciting.”
Producing a sustainable future
Growing up on a property in India inspired Gayathri Rajagopal to pursue a career in agriculture. She chose to study agribusiness at UQ because of its reputation for being one of the best universities in the world for research, employability and student experience. “They’re ranked third in the world and first in Australia for agriculture , which is pretty hard to beat,” explained Rajagopal.
“My Master of Agribusiness degree allowed me to build on my existing agricultural knowledge and apply what I learnt in class to solve real issues within the industry,” she said. This gave her a comprehensive understanding of agribusiness and saw her graduate with multiple skill sets, ultimately improving her employability.
Gayathri secured a highly sought-after position in Australia on the same day as her graduation from UQ. After completing a Graduate Programme within the Queensland Government, she became a development horticulturist within their Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
“The best part about my role is that I get to work on a variety of projects which allow me to test my ideas and explore new farming practices, technologies and innovations to move the agricultural industry forward,” she said.
Source: University of Queensland, Faculty of Science
Kick start a thriving career in Agribusiness at UQ
UQ’s Master of Agribusiness is based at its specialist rural campus in Gatton, about one hour west of the capital city, Brisbane. Explore the Gatton campus online through their virtual tour.
Home to more than 1,000 hectares of farmlands, the campus has state-of-the-art research and teaching facilities including a dairy, piggery, sheep and goat herd, research greenhouses and nurseries, as well an extensive range of precision agriculture tools and farming technologies. Alternatively, UQ’s Master of Agribusiness can be completed online, so you can gain a world leading master’s degree, no matter where you are.
Ready to get started? UQ is hosting a free, online Master of Agribusiness demo class, led by Dr. Ammar Abdul Aziz. Register now to find out more about studying agribusiness at UQ.
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