HSI Report: Agricultural
Resource Economics
University News | December 14, 2020
The course Agricultural Resource Economics was held in October 2020,
for the third consecutive year as a part of Hokkaido Summer Institute(HSI) 2020 and Graduate School of Global Food Resources (GFR).
Natural resources and the environment are essential to human activity
and existence; and the issues surrounding them have been the subject ofmuch research in the sciences and the social sciences. This course, which
belongs to the field of agriculture and resource economics, focuses on
microeconomics and policy, and seeks to educate participants on tools
and methods to investigate the intersection between these two fields inmanaging agricultural and environmental resources.

The Graduate School of Global Food Resources, which organised the course.

The course is organised by Dr. Yoko Saito, Lecturer at the Research
Faculty of Agriculture, and Dr. Ram Pandit, Senior Lecturer at the UWA

School of Agriculture and Environment, University of Western Australia.
Due to the travel restrictions put in place in light of the ongoing COVID19 pandemic, the course — which usually has been held in July of previousyears — was rescheduled. As the course does not involve any lab orfieldwork modules, it was moved online with relative ease. However, there
were both pros and cons as a result: all lectures were pre-recorded andmade available to participants on demand via Hokkaido University’s
ELMS (Education and Learning Management System), but some students
took some time to adapt to this mode of instruction.

Ram Pandit delivering the introductory lecture on market failure.

Mahoko Tanaka, a master student at the Graduate School of GFR,
enrolled in the course as it supplemented her coursework. “I expected that
we would be doing case studies focused on Japan and Australia,” she said,“and, while I did find the material challenging, the availability of the prerecorded lectures was a great help in preparing for the discussions. I also
appreciate the comprehensive support provided by the instructors.”
The course was held every Tuesday and Thursday between October 6 andOctober 20. A total of eight 90-minute sessions were scheduled; thesesessions focused on discussing the content in the lecture videos and how itcould be applied to the topics each student had chosen for theirpresentation and report. There were seven participants who completed
the course; this was in line with the number of participants in previousyears. On October 20, the participants made 15-minute presentations on
their selected topics, which contributed to their final assessment.
The 15-minute presentations covered various topics: Global Warming,
Plastic Pollution, Palm Oil Production in Indonesia, Ecosystems,
Intensive Livestock Farming, Food Loss, and Climate Refugees inVietnam. In keeping with the theme of the course, the participants
analysed the current status of these issues and possible solutions from aneconomic viewpoint. Their analyses revealed how economics plays a rolein addressing agricultural and environmental issues — a role that is often
overlooked when analyzing these issues within their fields.

Yoko Saito (top left), Ram Pandit (top center) and the course participants following the finalpresentation.

Gladys Grace Cortes, from the Graduate School of Life Sciences, signed up
for the course as she was interested in learning about topics outside herarea of specialization. “I wanted to diversify my knowledge, and I wasinterested in this course as Economics underlies a lot of modern life,” shesaid. “While I expected this course to be more of an overview course, I wasdelighted to find that it went into a lot of detail, beyond my expectations.”
The idea of the course was floated when Dr. Pandit was introduced to Dr.
Saito via a mutual acquaintance, building upon previous exchanges
between Hokkaido University and the University of Western Australia in
the field of agricultural and environmental economics. It was added to theroster of courses at the Hokkaido Summer Institute (HSI) as the goal wasto provide intensive training and mentorship to the participants. Thecollaboration between Dr. Saito and Dr. Pandit has now grown to include
a joint research project funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion ofScience (JSPS).
Planning is already underway for HSI 2021. It will have around 150
courses, and will incorporate remote and hybrid learning components inaddition to in-person learning, allowing more students to experience allthat Hokkaido University has to offer.
To receive information about HSI 2021, please sign up for areminder here .

Written by Sohail Keegan Pinto