|
Asia Network News
Edited by
Rick and Ellen Burnette
|
ECHO is a Christian non-profit organization whose vision is to bring glory to God and a blessing to mankind by using science and technology to help the poor.
|
|
This Newsletter is For You!
Send announcemnts, employment opportunties, and your stories to echoasia@echonet.org for inclusion in our next newsletter. |
|
ECHO Agricultural Conference 2009
Dec. 7-12
Fort Myers, FL
For More Information
| |
|
2nd ECHO Asia Agricultural Conference
During September 21-25, approximately 155 development workers from 15 countries gathered in Chiang Mai, Thailand for the 2nd ECHO Asia Agricultural Conference. This assembly was the first major event sponsored by ECHO since establishing its Asia Regional Office earlier this year.
 The meeting featured morning plenary sessions covering a variety of practical agriculture and community development topics. Agricultural concerns included SRI rice production (led by Dr. Norman Uphoff), the use of microorganisms in farming (as explained by Manny Asprec), how to extend the growing season by ECHO's Danny Blank and Khaing Dhu Wan's description of natural farming in Myanmar.
Conference goers were also introduced to earthen houses by Jo Jandai and Peggy Reents, small-scale alternative energy sources (such as micro-hydro) by Salinee Tavaranan and the use of 12-volt battery powered water purifiers by Kurtis Daniels.
Additionally, Stan Doerr, President/CEO of ECHO described the organization's growing range of global services while Jim Goering, member of ECHO's board of directors, helped delegates better grasp the big picture related to global food security challenges.
Afternoon and evening workshops were led by dozens of conference delegates. Largely related to small farm food production, income generation and appropriate technology, workshop topics included composting toilets, grain amaranth production, family biogas units, automated banana stalk slicers for natural pig feeds, warm water aquaculture, effects of recycling rice straw, community mapping and green manure cover crops.
 However, many delegates expressed that the highlight of the meeting was the post-conference tours. Participants were able to see examples of local work related to aquaculture, community-based natural farming, small-scale livestock production, agroforestry, vermiculture, natural rice production, alternative housing and seed saving.
Photos and plenary speaker power point presentations from the recent ECHO Asia Agricultural Conference can be viewed via the following link ECHO Asia Conference Photos. The next ECHO Asia Agricultural Conference in Chiang Mai is planned for 2011. |
|
ECHO Asia Regional Office Dedication
A dedication service and open house for the new ECHO Asia Regional Office was held on the veranda of the office building located on the McCormick Hospital campus in Chiang Mai on September 20, 2009.
Including a message by the General Secretary of the Thailand Karen Baptist Convention, Rev. Sonny Danpongdee, the Thai-English language ceremony was attended by approximately 60 persons, including guests, ECHO Asia staff and volunteers as well as a small contingent of US-based ECHO staff and interns. A reception followed the service. |
Partner Updates
Balcony Moringa Farm
ECHO partners, Glenn and Gayle Beckwith, aren't letting  urban Iife stop them from being moringa producers. With a total of seven trees on their Bangkok, Thailand apartment balcony, each plant is maintained at a height of 1.5 meters and can produce a crop of fresh leaves every 60-80 days. Glenn reports that a previous harvest of leaves produced approximately 125 grams of moringa powder. This is enough for one person to have 1.5 tablespoons of moringa powder per day until the next harvest.
The moringa trees on the Beckwith's balcony are 1-2 years old. Although they haven't been fertilized, the trees are repotted several times a year with fresh potting soil added each time.
In addition, the Beckwiths are growing amaranth, parsley and basil in pots along with the moringa. They also have a potted Thai lime that produces leaves that they use for seasoning soup. And living on the sixth floor isn't all bad as Glenn reports that they do not experience any problems with pests. |
|
Contributions from partners in the ECHO Asia Network Newsletter are printed with permission. Technical approaches shared in these updates do not necessarily reflect ECHO recommended practices. |
|
Container Garden Demo at the ECHO Asia Office
 Thirteen high school students from Chiang Mai International School (Thailand) spent the afternoon of September 4 getting their hands dirty in the new container garden and perennial vegetable demonstration at the ECHO Asia Regional Office. The students, all members of the school's "Planeteers" club, have dedicated themselves to caring for the environment. Phoebe Mbuvi, previously an ECHO intern in Ft. Myers, Florida, and now interning with the ECHO Asia Regional Office and the Upland Holistic Development Project, taught one group of students about the need for container gardens in poor urban settings. She also demonstrated the technique of preparing containers comprised of basins, old cans, plastic bottles and cloth as well as a little soil. The containers were arranged prominently on sturdy bamboo benches that Scott Breaden, a local ECHO Asia volunteer, helped to locate and set up on the front porch of the office.
Meanwhile, Ruth Tshin, another former ECHO intern who is currently helping the ECHO Asia Regional Office set up a new seed bank, led another group of students in planting a small perennial vegetable garden along the side of the ECHO Asia Regional Office building. Perennials include a bed of leaf pepper, a row of katuk plants and a moringa tree. With high afternoon temperatures and humidity, the students  worked up a good sweat. However, their efforts have paid off. Every day, dozens of people passing through the hospital campus are able inspect the container garden and perennials. With signs in Thai and English, the small garden serves the Chiang Mai community as a tool promoting sustainable options for urban food production. | |
|
Partner Announcements
Environmental Projects Supported in Developing Countries
The following announcement was shared by Dan Gudahl (Winrock International).
United Nations Development Programme: Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme http://sgp.undp.org/The Global Environment Facility Small Grants Programme (SGP), funded by the Global Environment Facility and implemented by the United Nations Development Programme, supports community-based work in the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, protection of international waters, prevention of land degradation, and elimination of persistent organic pollutants. SGP supports activities of non-governmental and community-based organizations in 101 participating developing countries. (A list of participating countries is available on the SGP website.) The grants of up to $50,000 support the following types of activities: community-based assessment and planning; pilot demonstration activities; monitoring and analysis; and dissemination, networking, and policy dialogue. Proposed projects must meet country-specific eligibility criteria laid out in each SGP Country Programme Strategy. Interested applicants should begin the application process by contacting the SGP National Coordinator for their country to receive project application guidelines and forms. Contact information for the National Coordinator in each participating country is available on the SGP website. |
|
Call for Submissions - Voices From the Forest Sequel
 By Bob Hill and Rick Burnette
Released in 2007, Voices From the Forest: Integrating Indigenous Knowledge into Sustainable Upland Farming, offers a total of 65 case studies that focus on indigenous fallow management. Edited by Malcolm Cairns, the work grew out of a 1997 regional workshop titled "Indigenous Strategies for Intensification of Shifting Agriculture in Southeast Asia," organized by the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF) Regional Office in Bogor, Indonesia.
Each chapter, based on case studies from across the Asia-Pacific region reflect varied topics and locations: for example, "Wild Food Plants as Alternative Fallow Species in the Cordillera Region, the Philippines"; "Management of Mimosa diplotricha var. inermis as a Simultaneous Fallow in Northern Thailand"; and "Indigenous Fallow Management on Yap Island." Taking an appreciative view of the efforts of regional small farmers related to the sustainable shifting agricultural practices, Voices from the Forest succeeds in making "indigenous practices and experience more widely accessible and better understood."
Currently, Malcolm is calling for contributions of written works for a sequel to Voices from the Forest. Specifically, more case studies are requested that illustrate how small farmers are "developing solutions to the problems of feeding growing populations from shrinking land resources."
Malcolm would like to present one promising case study per chapter. Each chapter should be around six thousand words in length. He is requesting that persons with ideas for this sequel present proposals for chapters as soon as possible.
If an idea is accepted, Malcolm would first need a working title for the chapter. He would also need an abstract - roughly one A4 page describing the case study, the location, its main features and a brief conclusion - by February 2010. He will then require the finished chapter - all six-thousand words - by next July (July 2010).
And even if one doesn't feel capable of writing a chapter, Malcolm would appreciate ideas which might be added to the bank of experiences needed to produce the new volume.
|
|
Concern for Victims of Recent Asian Natural Disasters
The ECHO Asia Regional Office would like to express sympathy and condolences for the victims of recent natural disasters affecting several Southeast Asian countries. The Philippines, Vietnam and Laos were hit particularly hard by typhoons Ketsana and Parma. In addition, the September 30 earthquake that struck the region around Padang, West Sumatra in Indonesia has further compounded hardship in the region.
The ECHO Asia office is aware of several regional partners directly impacted by these events. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all as disaster response and recovery continues. |
The ECHO Asia Regional Office operates under ECHO, a non-profit, Christian organization that helps you help the poor to produce food in the developing world .
ECHO
17391 Durrance Rd.
North Fort Myers, FL 33917 USA
Phone: (239)543-3246
Fax: (239)543-5317 |
|
|
