The Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics is headed by Dr. Gabriel Elepu as the Head (Chair). It is one of the 3 departments in the School of Agricultural Sciences. The department has 17 full time academic staff members, 9 of whom have PhD degrees specializing in various areas of Agricultural Economics, Agribusiness and Rural Development. Three are registered for PhD and are at various stages of completion whereas the three Teaching Assistants are in the final stages of their MSc degree training. Owing to an ever-increasing demand and a heavy work load, the department continues to draw on the expertise available within the School of Agricultural Sciences, the Makerere University Business School, the College of Business and Management Sciences, the Department of Women and Gender studies and others. Hence, another 20 members of staff serve the department on a part-time basis. In addition to their primary teaching responsibilities, all academic staff members are involved in a diversity of research and outreach activities. The department offers both undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs in Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness Management. The department teaches all economics and management courses to the undergraduate students of the Faculty of Agriculture and some courses to students from Faculty of Social Sciences offering BA(SS) Rural Economy option..
The department continues to receive demands/requests for short non-degree training courses/opportunities in a number of areas including agribusiness management, agricultural policy and trade analysis, natural resource and environmental economics, and livestock economics. These are demands the department must address and do so quickly. Some of these short courses could eventually be developed into Makerere University diploma programs depending on interest and circumstances.