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 #159 Now Available 2023-04-03

In this issue:

Download EDN 159


Triage and Recovery of Small Fallen Trees

Tim Motis and Luke Little

Excerpt:

Look for trees with intact trunks. A tree with a split trunk may be too unstable if righted. Also, look for trees with roots still attached to the trunks. If the root system is off the main trunk, there will be no way for the tree to take up water and nutrients. Lastly, look for trees that are small enough to be safely lifted upright by the human power and/or equipment available. Paint a unique mark or color on trees to be saved; this lets workers know which ones to focus their efforts on in terms of tree-saving.

[Read the full article]

ECHO West Africa Update 2023-03-28

ECHO West Africa's forum on sustainable agriculture this year was themed Producing and Consuming Organic, for the benefit of 135 participants. This forum is the result of the recommendations made by the participants of the sub-regional forum which took place in September 2022.

View Presentations from the Forum

The themes of the forum were addressed in the form of panels, allowing different speakers to make presentations around the scheduled themes, before moving on to practical workshops. The first day was devoted to the theme of the manufacture and use of organic fertilizers. This allowed ECHO trainers to present four different types of organic fertilizers before doing the practice to allow participants to master the different formulas.  The theme of the manufacture and use of biopesticides was presented on the second day. This day allowed the panelists of the day to communicate around four formulas of biopesticides, both in theory and in practice. Finally, on the third day, the topics covered were the Foundations For Farming (FFF) method, the "Balo" program, and above-ground techniques. Time was also given to the NGO Practica to make a presentation on the "zainer", a tool designed to facilitate the digging of sowing holes within the framework of the FFF. Before closing, several participants expressed great enthusiasm for the training received.

For two years, our region, Diapaga, has no longer been supplied with organic fertilizer because of insecurity. Through this training, ECHO offers us a new hope for a revival of our agriculture.

-  Ismaël Bonzi, Forum participant

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