ECHOcommunity Updates
Do you recommend a smothering cover crop? 2023-07-12
ECHO corresponded with community member Glenn about Jack bean (Canavalia ensiformis) as an option for smothering weeds. Slow-growing and erect, not spreading, we could use it for crowding out weeds and grasses in orchards. Other cover crops such as Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) send out vines and can climb up trees and take over orchards if one is not careful! We may need to plant jack bean closer together, at 6-8 inches (15 -20 cm), to achieve a higher Leaf Area Index, LAI, and out-compete weeds and supplement nitrogen needs. Do you have experience with using jack bean or other weed-smothering crops that you'd like to share with Glenn?
ECHO West Africa Staff Traveled to Cameroon 2023-07-04
ECHO West Africa staff traveled to Foumbot, Cameroon to train from May 22 to 24. The training equipped 70 participants made up of 35 men and 35 women.
The following themes were the subject of the work of the said training: the major challenges of agriculture and possible solutions, the method of Foundations for Farming, the 21-day biothermal composting, liquid fertilizer of 14 days, the liquid fertilizer of 10 days, the solid fertilizer of 1 day, the practices of biopesticides, the organic intensive and soilless garden, the virtues and opportunities of Moringa oleifera, the church and community development and finally, make a success of his small local poultry farm.
At the end of the training, the participants expressed their full satisfaction, and each committed to sharing these techniques with at least 10 other people.
When your neighbor's hut is burning, if you are not going to help him put out the fire, your hut is also in danger. By this same impulse of solidarity, we will popularize your techniques so that we can all live healthily and with dignity.
Souleymane, one of the ECHO West Africa trainees
Join the Conversation about Food Drying Technologies! 2023-06-27
Having nutritious foods in the off-season and preserving an abundance of produce at one time can be challenging problems in the hot and humid tropics. Food drying can be a great option to address these two concerns. There are options for passive food driers that don't use electricity that many in our network have experimented with as well as active driers that use forced air and sometimes have a heating element. There is an ongoing conversation about these technologies on ECHO Conversations and we would like to hear about your experience! What fruits, vegetables, or leaves have you tried drying for long-term storage? What technologies have worked well for you? Which ones haven't worked for you? Let's learn together!
Black Soldier Fly Larvae Production Technical Note (no 99) Now Available! 2023-06-21
Black soldier fly larvae are grown for their protein- and fat-rich biomass that can be fed to many types of livestock. This production guide is based off of the scaled-up system at the ECHO Asia Small Farm Resource Center. The authors encourage adaptation to fit the needs, resources, and constraints of your local context. The end of this article includes some considerations for household-level operations.
EXCERPT: To collect the eggs of the adult female BSF, provide favorable material for laying eggs within the mating enclosure. The ECHO Asia Farm discovered that small blocks of wood work well and provide both an inviting egg-laying environment and easy egg collection method for the workers. Using small pieces of cardboard may be logical (Wong, 2020), but the wooden blocks are convenient for collecting eggs and result in higher quantities of eggs as experienced by ECHO Asia staff. At this stage, it is important to note that BSF do not lay their eggs directly on (or in) a food source, but nearby to one. Blocks should be near a food source.
ECHO East Africa Note 10 Now Available! 2023-06-07
The issues surrounding current pastoralist practices are complex. A recent ECHO East Africa symposium focused attention on some crucial issues. It also addressed several potential remedies for the conflicts and challenges. This issue of ECHO East Africa Notes focuses on pastoralists and what interventions ECHO has found effective in serving pastoralist communities.
Download ECHO East Africa Note 10 Read ECHO East Africa Note 10 Online
- Maasai Pastoralists: Practices, Culture, and Role in Tanzanian Society
- Combating Hunger Among Pastoralists
- Intervention Descriptions for Food Security in Pastoral Communities
- Ferrocement Grain Storage
- Impact assessment of perennial vegetable training on attendees at hospitals and clinics
Let's celebrate 2023 World Food Safety Day! 2023-06-06
June 7th, 2023
This year's theme for world food safety day is "Food standards save lives" as we work together to keep food consumers safe across the globe. On this important global day, we recognize the importance of food safety awareness, ways to prevent illness through food safety, collaborative efforts to improve food safety, and the promotion of solutions and technologies to make food safe. In preparation for this year's food safety day, the FAO has published the event guide in 6 languages (English, French, Russian, Spanish, Arabic, and Chinese).
Download a guide to world food safety day 2023
Learn more about Food Safety Day 2023
ECHO is looking for a Director to lead our North America Impact Center, located in Fort Myers, Florida 2023-05-30
ECHO is seeking a director to lead our North America Regional Impact Center to ensure that ECHO’s Florida presence can better support:
- North Americans who are currently serving internationally,
- North Americans who are aspirational for international service and
- North Americans and those working with them who are facing food insecurity and livelihood challenges.
Apply or read more about this position
This experienced leader will work to ensure that the core functions of ECHO’s global mandate (providing the identification, validation, dissemination, and evaluation of appropriate options to our diverse network) are serving a North American audience with purpose and focus for accomplishing the global mission and vision of ECHO. This position encompasses roles and responsibilities that are critical to the continued relevance of ECHO in the coming years.
Please help us share this opportunity with your network.
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!