Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and Value Chain Management
The binding constraint on African agriculture is increasingly not production but the market: price discovery, aggregation, quality grading, finance, logistics and the paperwork of cross border trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area makes the next decade decisive, and the region trains too ...
Employment thesis
What this programme is designed to produce
Forward publishes the destination of every programme before you enrol. If the thesis stops holding, the programme is reviewed and, where necessary, retired. Next review: 2032.
Roles
- Agribusiness manager
- value chain analyst
- agricultural trade and logistics specialist
- agricultural finance officer
- aggregation and market lead
- agri cooperative manager
- commodity and grading specialist
- technical founder
Employer types
- Agribusinesses and agro processors
- agricultural traders and exporters
- agricultural finance and insurance firms
- cooperatives and farmer organisations
- development organisations and value chain programmes
- government agriculture and trade agencies
- logistics firms
- research institutes
- the graduate's own venture, incubated through the Forward Venture Studio
Target outcomes we hold ourselves to
- This programme targets strong graduate compensation in agribusiness and supports value chain ventures. Progression routes include the MSc in Agrifood Systems Intelligence and doctoral study.
Compulsory · The Forward Core
How the Core works →Every Forward programme, including this one, carries the same five cross-cutting requirements. They are graded, not optional.
- AI Fluency
- Quantitative Reasoning
- Ethics and African Context
- Human-Advantage Skills
- Enterprise
Includes 12 months paid work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4. Read the co-op commitment
Am I eligible?
Check yourself against the published requirements
7 questions written specifically for Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and Value Chain Management. Every answer is checked against a requirement Forward has published, and the result tells you which page that requirement comes from. Indicative only, the admissions office decides on your full file.
What is the highest qualification you hold or are completing?
Curriculum structure
The same degree, in both pathways
Every Forward programme is published in both pathways: Path One, the term plan of two six-month terms, and Path Two, the block sequence of twelve four-week blocks. Same competencies, same assessments, same award. Toggle to see this programme in each.
Path One term plan shown
Path One · The Term Model
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 101 | AI Fluency I: How Intelligent Systems Work Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BAVC 110 | Foundations of Agribusiness and Value Chains Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 111 | Economics for Agriculture Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 112 | Data and Analytics for Agribusiness Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BAVC 113 | Accounting and Agribusiness Finance Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 102 | Quantitative Reasoning and Evidence Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BAVC 130 | Agricultural Production Systems Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 131 | Agricultural Marketing and Trade Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 132 | Value Chain Analysis and Design Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BAVC 133 | Agricultural Finance and Risk Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| COP 190 | Workplace Immersion (4 weeks, recessterm) Performance | 0 | 0-0-0 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 201 | Ethics, Society and the African Context Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| BAVC 210 | Logistics and Cross Border Trade Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 211 | Cooperatives, Aggregation and Farmer Organisations Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 212 | Quality, Grading, Standards and Traceability Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BAVC 213 | Digital Agriculture and Agtech Platforms Both | 4 | 2-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 202 | Human Advantage: Argument, Writing and Teams Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 290 | Co-operative Education Placement I (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BAVC 230 | Agribusiness Strategy and Management Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 231 | Agricultural Policy and the Continental Free Trade Area Performance | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 301 | AI Fluency II: Building, Evaluating and Auditing Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| FDC 401 | /402 Capability Portfolio, Governance and Day One Block Both | 6 | 2-2-2 |
| BAVC 310 | Intelligent Markets and Agribusiness Analytics Both | 5 | 3-2-2 |
| BAVC 311 | Agribusiness Specialisation Elective Performance | 4 | 2-2-4 |
| BAVC 312 | Agribusiness Capstone: Build a Real Value Chain Venture Both | 3 | 1-2-2 |
| Code | Course | CU | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| FDC 302 | Enterprise, Employability and Financial Literacy Both | 4 | 2-2-0 |
| COP 390 | Co-operative Education Placement II (6 months) Performance | 10 | 0-0-0 |
| BAVC 330 | Professional Practice and Agribusiness Leadership Performance | 8 | 2-2-8 |
Total credit units: 132
Curriculum source
Forward University Curriculum Compendium
Assessment
Assessment follows Part E without variation. Across the programme the aggregate weighting is 35 per cent continuous assessment and built artefacts, 25 per cent authentic performance including practical examination and oral defence, 30 per cent external practitioner assessment in the final year, and not more than 40 per cent written examination in any single course. The capstone is client verified and the Day One Assessment contributes 5 per cent of the final year mark. Assessment principles. Assessment is authentic, criterion referenced and, for every capability claim above Level 2, verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer. There is no compensation between competencies: a student must master each one, and a marginal performance in one cannot be offset by strength in another. Feedback is returned quickly, within seven days of a block closing in the Block Sequence, so that it can inform the next unit. A student who does not yet meet the standard is given a further, structured attempt under Part E rather than being carried forward, which protects the value of the award while supporting progression. Reasonable adjustments for disability are made under Part D without altering the competency standard.
Work-integrated learning
Students complete COP 190 Workplace Immersion in the Year 1 recess term, COP 290 Co-operative Education Placement I (six months, paid, assessed) and COP 390 Co-operative Education Placement II (six months, paid, assessed), totalling not fewer than twelve months. Placement hosts are contracted by the Co-operative Education Office. The employer completes a structured capability assessment carrying 40 to 50 per cent of the placement mark and signs the capability claims that enter the Capability Passport. Online students are placed with accredited hosts in their own city or country under remote academic supervision, or have their existing employment accredited as the placement site under Part D4.
Your week at Forward
A typical week on Bachelor of Science in Agribusiness and Value Chain Management
Path One, the Term Model: your own pace across a six-month term, one live session a week, short flexible lessons, and assessment on demand.
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Curriculum explorer
Drill into the degree, step by step
Choose a study path, then a year, then a term or block, then a course. Credit totals add up as you go, and every course shows what comes before it and what it unlocks.
Step 1, choose a year
Step 2, choose a term
TERM 1 (SIX MONTHS) | FORMERLY YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1 | YEAR 1 | 22
Year 1 · this step is worth 22 CU
Cumulative
22
Programme total
132
22 CU of 132 CU completed by the end of this step (17%)
Step 3, choose a course
Pick a course to see the detail
Credits, assessment, prerequisites and what each course unlocks later.
The twelve Forward capabilities
What this programme develops in you
Every Forward degree develops the same twelve cross-cutting capabilities. The profile below is the level this programme is designed to develop and verify by graduation, on the four-level scale in Part B2 of the Curriculum Compendium. Every claim above Level 2 is verified by someone other than the teaching lecturer.
- C1Intelligent Systems FluencyLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C2Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C3Ethical and Contextual JudgementLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C4Communication and Persuasion CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C5Disciplinary MasteryLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C6Technical Production and CraftLevel 3 of 4, Independent
- C7Problem Framing and Systems ThinkingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C8Collaboration and Multidisciplinary TeamingLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C9Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C10Professional Conduct and Workplace PerformanceLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C11Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity CriticalLevel 4 of 4, Leading
- C12Stewardship and Public ContributionLevel 4 of 4, Leading
Critical capabilities for this programme: Quantitative and Evidential Reasoning · Communication and Persuasion · Enterprise, Value and Commercial Literacy · Learning to Learn and Adaptive Capacity. A graduate cannot pass out of this programme below the stated level on any capability marked critical.
Programme Learning Outcomes
What you will be able to do
Each outcome is assessed, and each is tagged with the Forward capabilities it is verified against.
- PLO 1Analyse an agricultural value chain end to end and identify where value is lost and made.
- PLO 2Design and manage an agribusiness operation against a financial and market objective.
- PLO 3Structure agricultural finance, aggregation and market access for a value chain.
- PLO 4Apply quality grading, standards and traceability to a commodity.
- PLO 5Manage agricultural logistics and cross border trade under real constraints.
- PLO 6Analyse agricultural markets and data to support a decision.
- PLO 7Apply digital and intelligent tools to agribusiness and trade.
- PLO 8Work with farmers, cooperatives and buyers to build a chain.
- PLO 9Cost, pitch and defend an agribusiness venture to a decision maker and investor.
- PLO 10Acquire and demonstrate a new capability without formal instruction, evidenced in the Capability Passport.
Why this programme exists
The binding constraint on African agriculture is increasingly not production but the market: price discovery, aggregation, quality grading, finance, logistics and the paperwork of cross border trade. The African Continental Free Trade Area makes the next decade decisive, and the region trains too few people who can build and run the agribusiness and value chain that connects a farmer to a market. This programme builds that professional, treating the value chain as a system to be designed, financed and digitalised, with real agribusiness projects and data from Year 1.
Admission requirements
Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with two principal passes; plus Uganda Certificate of Education with five passes including Mathematics and English. Applicants sit a structured reasoning task scored against Capabilities C2 and C9. All applicants must demonstrate competence in English, the language of instruction, through their qualifications or an approved proficiency test under Part A. International and non standard qualifications are assessed for equivalence against the profile above under the Credential Portability provisions, so that a suitably prepared applicant may enter from anywhere in the world. Selection considers the whole application, including the structured admission task, and is conducted without discrimination under the University's admissions policy. Alternative pathways: Foundation Year, diploma entry with advanced standing, mature age entry and recognition of prior learning, all governed by Part A5 and Part G. Online applicants additionally complete the compulsory Digital Readiness orientation under Part D6.
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