About ECHOcommunity

ECHOcommunity is a membership community that provides access to nearly all of ECHO’s resources online, as well as communications tools to help development workers connect with each other.   View a list of ECHOcommunity.org features here.

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Upcoming events

ECHO Asia: Intro to Natural Earth Building Techniques Workshop
Mon, 12 May 2025 » Fri, 16 May 2025

Chiang Mai, Thailand

  Course Description:  Dive into the art and science of sustainable construction! This hands-on, introductory experience will guide you through the fundamentals of natural building techniques, including adobe, wattle and daub, earthen plastering, and more. Through a mix of engaging classroom sessions and practical activities, you'll learn how to use locally sourced, eco-friendly materials to create durable and beautiful structures. Whether you're a beginner or have already begun you...

ECHO Asia: Tropical Agriculture & Development (TAD) Course
Mon, 2 June 2025 » Sat, 7 June 2025

ECHO Asia Small Farm Resource Center Chiang Mai, Thailand, Thailand

  This 1-week course is designed for development workers, missionaries, and volunteers looking to engage their communities with low-cost, high-impact agricultural innovations and techniques. Participants will be introduced to various agricultural practices and technologies through classroom time and hands-on activities on the farm, learning to 'use what you have to make what you need.' This course is considered an 'introductory survey course' and will present a broad overview of many op...

ECHO North America: July 2025 Bundle & Save TAD I & TAD II
Mon, 7 July 2025 » Fri, 18 July 2025

ECHO North America, United States

July 2025, ECHO North America will be hosting back-to-back trainings for TAD I and TAD II! Introduction to Tropical Agriculture Development (TAD I) will be July 7-11! For more details that relate specifically to this training please use this link for more information. TAD II: Syntropic Agroforestry will be July 15-18! For more details that relate specifically to this training please use this link for more information.   You can Register for BOTH events for a reduced cost per train...

ECHO North America: Introduction to Tropical Agriculture Development - July 2025
Mon, 7 July 2025 » Fri, 11 July 2025

ECHO North America, United States

Those interested in preparing for short to long-term involvement in international agriculture development are encouraged to participate in this five-day course.  Topics and discussions will focus on improved food security and agricultural livelihoods for small-scale farmers in developing countries.  Participants will be introduced to the complexities related to poverty and community development.  They will also be introduced to principles and practices that contribute toward maintaining h...

ECHO North America: TAD II - Syntropic Agroforestry July 2025
Tue, 15 July 2025 » Fri, 18 July 2025

ECHO North America, United States

Introduction to Syntropic Agriculture This is an interactive 4-day agroforestry training session.  Learn how to cultivate abundant food and timber in a system that mimics a natural forest.  Syntropic farming is a method inspired by Ernst Götsch. This course will cover the principles and practices needed for a beginner to plant his/her own agroforest.  Basic design and management skills will also be taught.  An attendee can expect to return home with enough knowledge to produce a couple ...

Latest Resources

Tef (Eragrostis tef) Hay - Feedipedia

Common names 

Tef, teff, Williams lovegrass, Abyssinian lovegrass, annual bunch grass [English]; teff, tef [French, Spanish, Portuguese, Indonesian]; mtefi [Swahili]; ጤፍ [Amharic]; 苔麸 [Chinese]; בן-חילף טף [Hebrew]...

Mango (Mangifera indica) Fruit and By-Products - Feedipedia

Common names 

Mango [English]; mangue, manguier [French]; mango, melocoton de los tropicos [Spanish]; mangueira, manga [Portuguese]; veselperske [Afrikaans]; mangga [Indonesian]; cambe [Somali]; mwembe [Swahili]; x...

Locust Meal, Locusts, Grasshoppers and Crickets - Feedipedia

Locust meal, locusts, desert locust, migratory locust, red locust, grasshoppers, grasshopper meal, katydids, crickets, cricket meal, house cricket, field cricket, Mormon cricket, Orthoptera, Acridids, Acrididae, Gryllidae, T...

Composition and Nutritional Value Tables of Raw Materials Intended for Farm Animals

French only.

Resulting from the joint efforts of Inra and the French Association for Animal Production, these new tables present the composition and nutritive value of the raw materials used for feeding the major f...

Black Soldier Fly Larvae (Hermetia illucens) - Feedipedia

Description 

The black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens Linnaeus 1758) is a fly (Diptera) of the Stratiomyidae family. The adult fly is black, wasp-like and 15-20 mm long (Hardouin et al., 2003). The larvae can reach...

Introduction to Sustainable Land Management - Video

Access Agriculture Training Video

Introduction to sustainable land management practices which have a proven track record in Africa. They can help control land degradation and improve production for small scale farm...

Addressing Problems of Soil Fertility with Emphasis on Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes & the Temporal & Spatial Dynamics of Local Resources

Addressing Problems of Soil Fertility with Emphasis on Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes & the Temporal & Spatial Dynamics of Local Resources

Session: Ken’s research focuses on smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular problems of soil fertility with emphasis on nitrogen fixation by legumes and the temporal and spatial dynamics of resour...

Addressing Problems of Soil Fertility with Emphasis on Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes and the Temporal & Spatial Dynamics of Local Resources

Addressing Problems of Soil Fertility with Emphasis on Nitrogen Fixation by Legumes and the Temporal & Spatial Dynamics of Local Resources

Session: Ken’s research focuses on smallholder farming systems in sub-Saharan Africa, and in particular problems of soil fertility with emphasis on nitrogen fixation by legumes and the temporal and spatial dynamics of resour...

Food Forests

A food forest, also called a forest garden, is a diverse planting of edible plants that attempts to mimic the ecosystems and patterns found in nature. Food forests are three dimensional designs, with life extending in all di...

Floating Gardens for the Landless

The coastal district of Puri in Odisha is infested with water hyacinth. In 1982, 10 million people and 3 million hectares of agricultural land was affected by floods causing the water hyacinth to increase to such an extent t...