The Department of Human Ecology and Agricultural Sciences was established in 1965 at Chichiri Campus. It was part of Chancellor College when the campus relocated to Zomba in 1974. It was previously known as Home Economics with a focus on family and nutritional studies. From that time to the year 2010, the department mainly serviced the Faculty of Education as it was only offering specified courses. From 2010 onwards, the department developed and started to offer its own programmes (Bachelor of Science in Food and Nutrition and Bachelor of Science in Family and Consumer Sciences) for the first time. Later the department also added one programme at the undergraduate level (Bachelor of Early Childhood Development) and one programme at the Master’s level (Master of Science in Food and Nutrition Science). This meant that more courses were being offered, and that also entailed the need to rename the department, and the name Human Ecology was adopted. This was in line with the international evolution of the discipline as it incorporated broader subjects that affect individuals in the settings of families that their immediate environments.

Further, the department has had to adopt a new name as the Department of Human Ecology and Agricultural Sciences as it evolves even more to develop and offer more courses and programmes that deal with sustainable food production and utilization. Currently the department is offering various programmes at the undergraduate level and one at the postgraduate level.

The department’s undergraduate programmes include the following: BSc in Family and Consumer Sciences, Bachelor of Early Childhood Development, BSc in Food and Nutrition Sciences, BSc in Food Service and Hospitality Management, and BSc. (Hons) Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security. Our postgraduate programmes are MSc/PhD in Sustainable Agriculture, MSc/PhD in Food and Nutrition Security, MSc/PhD in Food Science, MA/PhD in Family and Consumer Sciences, and MA/PhD in Early Childhood Development.