Ahoussney: Created page with " '''Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)''' is a non-profit agro-ecological organization supporting small-scale farmers through the disseminati..."

2015-01-28T21:32:42Z

Created page with " '''Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)''' is a non-profit agro-ecological organization supporting small-scale farmers through the disseminati..."

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'''Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)''' is a non-profit [[agro-ecology|agro-ecological]] organization supporting small-scale farmers through the dissemination of information and seeds. ECHO's mission is to "empower small-scale farmers to increase the yield and nutritional diversity of their crops."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nierenberg|first1=Danielle|last2=Small|first2=Sarah|title=101 Global Food Organizations to Watch in 2015|url=http://foodtank.com/news/2015/01/one-hundred-one-global-food-organizations-to-watch-in-twenty-fifteen|accessdate=28 January 2015|work=Food Tank|publisher=Food Tank|date=23 January 2015}}</ref> <ref>{{cite news|last1=O’phelan|first1=Ann Marie|title=Farm tours bring ag up-close and personal|url=http://highlandstoday.com/list/highlands-agri-leader-news/farm-tours-bring-ag-up-close-and-personal-20150112/|accessdate=28 January 2015|agency=Highlands|publisher=Central Florida’s Agri-Leader|date=January 12, 2015}}</ref>They operate a seed bank containing many species of rare, yet valuable food crops which "increases system sustainability, offers new economic opportunities for local farmers and increases distribution of high quality, locally adapted seeds to other farmers and development workers"<ref>{{cite web|last1=Holmer|first1=R.|last2=Linwattana|first2=G|last3=Keatinge|first3=J.D.H.|last4=Nath|first4=P.|title=SEAVEG 2012: High Value Vegetables in Southeast Asia: Production, Supply and Demand|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rMrUsJIOPj4C&dq=echo+seed+bank&source=gbs_navlinks_s|publisher=AVRDC-WorldVegetableCenter|accessdate=28 January 2015|ref=High Value Vegetables in Southeast Asia}}</ref>. ECHO also offers training courses and workshops on many topics, such as tropical agriculture.

==Headquarters and Global Farm==
ECHO is headquartered in [[North Fort Myers]], Florida. Their campus includes the "Global Farm and Research Center" a demonstration and research farm, a reference library with a variety of resources on rare agricultural crops and techniques, a seed bank, a tropical fruit nursery with, among other things, one of the largest collections of [[bamboo]] varieties in North America, and a bookstore. The global farm also includes an [[appropriate technology]] center developing tools and equipment for small scale farmers. Various parts of the farm demonstrate agriculture in different conditions including highlands, lowlands, semi-arid and a demonstration of the techniques of urban agriculture that have been implemented around the world.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Smit|first1=Jac|last2=Nasr|first2=Joe|last3=Ratta|first3=Annu|title=[http://www.jacsmit.com/book/Chap05.pdf Urban Agriculture: Food, Jobs and Sustainable Cities]|date=2001|publisher=The Urban Agriculture Network, Inc.|pages=Chapter 5 page 7-8|edition=2001}}</ref>

==Regional Impact Centers==
ECHO operates four Regional Impact Centers, around the world to bring agricultural resources to the small-scale farmers that need them. Regional Impact Centers are located in [[Chiang Mai]], Thailand, [[Arusha]], Tanzania, and [[Ouagadougou]], Burkina Faso, with a long-term research project in soil science based near [[Modimolle]], South Africa.

==Seed distribution==
ECHO maintains a large collection of useful tropical trees and other plants and provides seed, free of charge, to groups and farmers who request them, with the hope that "growers will plant those seeds, collect and save them from the crops they grow, and share them with their community."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Nierenberg|first1=Danielle|last2=Theobald|first2=Molly|title=Seed Bank Uses Feedback from Farmers to Assess Best Seed Varieties for Climate|url=http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/seed-bank-uses-feedback-from-farmers-to-assess-best-seed-varieties-for-climate/|accessdate=28 January 2015|agency=Nourishing the Planet|publisher=Worldwatch Institute|date=18 August 2009}}</ref>

ECHO was one of the key organizations in the dissemination of seeds and information on [[Moringa]], a key nutritional plant species useful for providing essential vitamins and minerals for people in developing countries in the tropics.

==Technical Notes==
ECHO publishes a variety of [http://www.echocommunity.org/?tech_notes technical notes] that cover a variety of topics related to [[appropriate technology]], [[agroecology]] and [[agroforestry]].

== See also ==
*[[Agroecology]]
*[[Sustainable development]]
*[[Appropriate technology]]
==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://echonet.org/ ECHO official site]
*[http://www.echocommunity.org ECHO community forum site]

ECHO - Revision history

Ahoussney: Created page with " '''Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization (ECHO)''' is a non-profit agro-ecological organization supporting small-scale farmers through the disseminati..."