ECHOcommunity Updates
East African Farmers Look For Useful Solutions To Common Challenges 2015-06-09
In January, twenty four farmers gathered in Mkonoo villiage near Arusha Tanzania. They came together in the home of a widow by the name of Kalainey Lobarani to learn more about water harvesting and kitchen gardening techniques. Like so many small-scale farmers around the world their main interest is to improve the nutrition of their families through year round gardens, and to improve their overall food security.
Two exciting methods were presented by representatives from RUCONET (an ECHO/IDIN Picogrant recipient) and ECHO. First, they participated in a theoretical training on water harvesting which concluded with participants digging a hafir, a 10,000 litre plastic lined cistern which costs only about US$90 to build. After establishing the hafir, the group was keen to learn about a novel way to establish kitchen gardens by the keyhole method.
Keyhole gardens are raised round garden beds heavy with compost manure which only needs to be renewed after 3 years of use. These uniquely shaped gardens use waste kitchen water and can produce herbs, greens and vegetables throughout the year by a continuous planting/harvesting method. Water consumption is reduced through mulching, and a compost cylinder in the center filters waste water prior to absorption into the garden. The farmers in attendence committed themselves to helping each other to establish these kinds of gardens so that each should have one near their kitchens.
Community Member Spotlight - Fah Mui: Biological S.R.I. Rice Farmer 2015-06-02
Fah Mui is a local farmer and member of the ECHO Asia network. Below she shared her story and experience with System of Rice Intensification, or SRI, a tool promoted throughout the ECHO Asia network as a way to increase farmers’ rice yields and reduce their inputs.
Development work in Haiti recovering slowly after disaster, creative solutions keep education moving 2015-05-26
In the midst of many challenges the Episcopal University in Port au Prince, Haiti is continuing to find creative ways to train tomorrow’s agriculture leaders. Since the earthquake the university has had to rearrange the agriculture curriculum due to the fact that student dorms are no longer habitable. In the face of this reality the university has focused its "on farm" curriculum on subjects that lend themselves to 2 day a week visit by the students and professors. The new focus includes subjects like composting, bee keeping and fruit tree grafting.
Paper Mulch as Soil Covering and Environmental Conservation 2015-05-19
Mulch is a protective covering of organic material laid over the soil around plants to prevent erosion, retain moisture, and to enrich soil. Paper mulch, made of magazines, boxes and other paper materials, is laid on top of traditional materials such as grass, fruit peels and leaves. This technology is especially appropriate in dry areas where water is not sufficient because it helps to control water loss.
ECHO Development Notes #127 Now Available 2015-05-05
Excerpt: Private Service Providers: Preferred by Smallholders
Like all farmers, smallholder farmers require support services to provide production inputs, to market surplus production and to contribute other services like contract mechanization (for land preparation, post-harvest processing, initial value added), credit, etc. Within smallholder agriculture communities private service providers (PSPs) normally provide these essential support services that, if forced to be undertaken individually, would distract from the primary economic activity of crop and animal husbandry. These PSPs are part of the well-recognized and promoted Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) system. Frequently, they may be more accurately referred to as the Family Enterprise System (FES). Such PSPs are usually indigenous to the communities they serve, and often represent former farmers who have drifted out of farming to become supporting service providers to their neighbors. These businesses are frequently owned and operated by women, and often have such a limited market volume they operate near the poverty level.
New Leaders in Indonesian Small-Scale Farm Development 2015-04-28
YAS Project managers Hermansyah and Anthony, along with Mr. and Mrs. Kusnadi, attended the 2011 ECHO Asia Agriculture and Community Development Conference in Thailand. Their purpose was to network with other individuals and organizations like theirs, and to learn about techniques that could be implemented in their area. During the conference they were particularly impacted by a trip to Maejo University vermicomposting facility, which focuses on using worms to break down organic food waste in order to produce high-quality compost and worm juice. Inspired by what they saw during the field trip, the team went back to Medan and began experimenting with various vermicomposting systems.
Bike-powered Appropriate Technology featured in Smithsonian Magazine 2015-04-20
The coffee team from IDDS Tanzania was highlighted in Smithsonian Magazine this month with a story about how a self-taught Tanzanian inventor, nonprofit workers, and MIT students collaborated on a potentially life-changing tool for coffee growers.
Research Update: From The ECHO Global Farm 2015-04-06
Two new field experiments are being established this month at ECHO’s Global Demonstration Farm in southwest Florida. Both studies involve tropical legumes, which provide farmers with a source of green manure, grain, and/or animal fodder.
Community Member Highlight - Jean Apedoh 2015-03-31
ECHOcommunity member Jean Apedoh is a trained agronomist from Togo who has become a recognized authority in West Africa on a technique used to increase rice yields called SRI. Jean first came across the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) at the 2010 ECHO West Africa Forum through a presentation given by Erika Styger of Cornell University.
SRI is a system for planting and maintaining rice crops that has proven, under certain conditions, to increase yield while reducing plant density and water application.
Compost Heap Impact on Habari Maalum 2015-03-24
The Habari Maalum Tree Nursery, outside of Arusha, Tanzania, provides over 200,000 tree seedlings per year to the surrounding villages. Until recently, HM has relied upon forest soil collected from the Olmotonyi Forest on the lower slopes of Mt Meruto replenish their nursery.
Increasingly, there is opposition and expense to travel the 10km up into the forest to obtain this soil. While the nursery has permission to harvest this soil, the Forest Department frowns upon this activity, and it interferes with other farmers who are interplanting their farm crops under the early canopy of the plantation forest, a method called "Taungya."