Vetiver Network's 7th International Conference on Vetiver Hybrid Event! 2023-05-23

Chiang Mai, Thailand & Online  |  May 29 - June 1, 2023

This hybrid event will be both in-person and online! Registration is still open (please ignore the May 15th deadline) for you to participate in this collaborative and educational event. The conference keynote speaker is Dr. Rattan Lal who has extensive experience with vetiver technologies. There will be exhibitions on the utilization of vetiver grass projects and vetiver handicraft training. A post-conference tour will head out into the field for a technical dive into vetiver applications. The conference will take place in-person at the Shangri-La Hotel in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Portions of the event will also be available online! 

Register Here   Learn more about the conference

FAO's Annual World Bee Day May 20, 2023 2023-05-17

Bees are vital to food systems and ecosystems globally. ECHO recognizes the importance of bees and other pollinators and promotes pollinator-friendly agricultural production. We also know that many of you, our network members, directly benefit from tending bees in your community. Please take the time to share and learn together to help increase awareness of the importance of pollinator-friendly practices. Together we can increase resilience, sustainability, and production of food systems around the world. 

FAO's event will be hybrid (in-person and virtual). FAO also has pollinator-friendly agricultural videos. 

Register Here   Protecting Pollinators Video Series

 

ECHO Asia update - water filtration learned at the last TAD course! 2023-05-16

By Drew Lemos, ECHO Asia TAD participant
Living Water Organic Farm, Ban Nakhai Laos

We first learned about the four-barrel water filter design while searching for low-cost filters on Youtube that we could build on our farm. So, of course, we were very excited to hear that we would make one at the ECHO Asia Training Center Farm in Chiang Mai months later. We realize we need it on our farm. We got the training, built one, and it worked! Our system was a small one, with only a seventy-liter capacity. It cleaned up the water significantly to where it was usable again. 

A 4-barrel water system with 70 liters of capacity was used. These were typical trash cans bought brand new from the home improvement store. Economical and easy to work with because we did not have to clean any residual soap or liquid out of it. River rock of all sizes, sand, and biochar were used as the filtering medium. We also used a simple in-line shut-off valve instead of the ball valve. We followed the ECHO Asia training to clean the different filter materials. We utilized the blue mesh we had on the farm and a plastic tub to clean any loose soil and dust from the other materials. The stand that I constructed was 50 cm tall and made from metal. I would make it with a heavier-duty metal that could handle more barrels for increased capacity.

Learn about ECHO Asia's Next Course   Learn about ECHO Florida's Next Course!

ECHO East Africa Symposium on Appropriate Technology Innovations and Renewable Energy 2023-05-09

August 9-11  |  Arusha, Tanzania

You are invited to join us for the 1st ECHO East Africa Symposium on Appropriate Technology Innovations and Renewable Energy. We hope that you will make time to gather with us at this very important sharing opportunity. It will be a valuable time of learning, information sharing, and networking for those working and serving in the East Africa Region.

Learn more about the Symposium!

Symposium planners hope to include the following technologies:

  • Biogas for domestic and productive use
  • Water hygiene and sanitation, productive use
  • Food harvesting, processing and packaging
  • Post harvest processing and handling
  • Honey and beeswax harvesting and processing
  • Milk and milk by products processing
  • Solar energy for domestic and productive use
  • Wind energy
  • Conservation agriculture implements
  • Livestock management and processing
  • Seeds saving and sharing
  • Draught power and implements
  • Other livelihood related innovations

From ECHO's Farm: Fish Harvest 2023 2023-05-02

ECHO just harvested both aquaculture ponds, for last week's farmwork. The staff and volunteers, led by the interns and their supervisor (including ECHO's CEO), kept up the tradition and had fun doing this activity. We netted over 170 tilapia, 47 invasives, and a few bass and bluegills (caught and released for future sportfishing!) Participating staff held a luncheon, and then promptly continued to clean and fillet fresh tilapia for the ECHO community. As aquaculture grows in importance around the world, ECHO global farm shows another way to train our interns in this important activity in the fight against global hunger with local action.

View resources on Aquaculture

ECHO in Latin America and Caribbean: Biological depositories 2023-04-25

ECHO traveled to Huehuetenango, Guatemala, where small farmers produce export crops besides their families’ basic needs. Using Integrated Pest Management, farmers produce vegetables for foreign tables. Preventive practices are first then safe botanicals for pest management follow. Under Safe Use Protocols, approved agrichemicals are the last resort to save a crop. Biological depositories or “biodeps” provide safe disposal for excess mixtures and washing equipment including backpack sprayers. Biodeps are required for use as a Good Agricultural Practice, GAP for certifying small-farmer exports and export throughout the region and to the United States and Europe.

ECHO Asia update - farmer with disabilites 2023-04-11

ECHO Asia has had a busy year of training already in 2023! These training events past and upcoming include topics of seed saving, on-farm feeds, biochar, bio-sand filtration, and introduction to tropical agriculture development. ECHO Asia staff visited the partner organization Christian Center for the Development of Persons with Disabilities (CDPD Thailand) to talk about options for gardening and growing crops for those with disabilities. 

Explore the Conversations about AT for those with disabilities

EDN Numéro 159 Maintenant disponible 2023-04-03

Sommaire:

Télécharger EDN 159


Triage et récupération des petits arbres tombés

Tim Motis et Luke Little

Extrait:

Cherchez des arbres avec des troncs intacts. Un arbre avec un tronc fendu peut être trop instable s’il est redressé. Recherchez également des arbres dont les racines sont encore attachées aux troncs. Si le système racinaire est détaché du tronc principal, il n’y aura aucun moyen pour l’arbre d’absorber l’eau et les éléments nutritifs. Enfin, recherchez des arbres suffisamment petits pour être soulevés en toute sécurité par la force humaine et/ou l’équipement disponible. Appliquez une marque ou une couleur unique sur les arbres à sauvegarder ; cela permet aux travailleurs de savoir sur lesquels concentrer leurs efforts en termes de protection des arbres.

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Le forum national de ECHO Afrique de l'Ouest sur l'agriculture 2023-03-28

Le forum national de ECHO Afrique de l'Ouest sur l'agriculture durable cette année avait pour thème "Produire et Consommer Bio", au profit de 135 participants. Ce forum est le résultat des recommandations faites par les participants du forum sous-régional qui a eu lieu en septembre 2022.

Voir les présentations du forum

Les thèmes du forum ont été abordés sous forme de panels, permettant à différents orateurs de faire des communications autour des thèmes programmés, avant de passer aux ateliers pratiques. La première journée a été consacrée au thème de la fabrication et de l'utilisation des engrais organiques. Cela a permis aux formateurs de ECHO de présenter quatre différents types d'engrais organiques avant de faire la pratique pour permettre aux participants de maîtriser les différentes formules. Le thème de la fabrication et de l'utilisation des biopesticides a été présenté le deuxième jour. Cette journée a permis aux panélistes du jour de communiquer autour de quatre formules de biopesticides, tant en théorie qu'en pratique. Enfin, le troisième jour, les thèmes abordés étaient la méthode Foundations For Farming (FFF), le programme "Balo", et les techniques du hors-sol. Un temps a également été donné à l'ONG PRACTICA pour faire une présentation sur le « zainer », un outil destiné à faciliter le creusement de trous de semis dans le cadre de la FFF. Avant de conclure, plusieurs participants ont exprimé un grand enthousiasme pour la formation reçue.

Depuis deux ans, notre région, Diapaga, n'est plus approvisionnée en engrais organique à cause de l'insécurité. A travers cette formation, ECHO nous offre un nouvel espoir pour une relance de notre agriculture.

-  Ismaël Bonzi, participant au Forum

Black Sapote Seeds - Now available for a limited time! 2023-03-21

Black sapote (Diospyros nigra) is also called chocolate pudding fruit or black persimmon. Fruits turn brown and soft when ripe. Fruits are eaten fresh, cooked in dishes, or combined with dairy products. ECHO staff and volunteers enjoy using the fruit to make black sapote bread or black sapote brownies. Seeds of black sapote do not store for long periods of time because they are recalcitrant and therefore are only offered from the ECHO Global Seed bank for a limited time each year. You must be an active development worker and a registered member of ECHOcommunity to order seeds. To learn more about black sapote, see ECHO's plant information sheet: Black Sapote.

Order Seeds