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Reducing Hunger,
Improving Lives
Worldwide |
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Dear ECHO partners and friends,
During this Christmas Season we wish for you, your families and the communities you work among, a peaceful, joy-filled holiday.
Merry Chirstmas!
Rick and Ellen Burnette |
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Last Chance to Register
Only a Few Spaces Left
2011 ECHO Asia/Partners Thailand Tropical Agriculture Workshop
January 19-21, 2011
The ECHO Asia Regional Office and Partners Thailand will co-host a three-day workshop to be held at the Partner's farm on the outskirts of Chiang Mai. Divided into six half-day sessions, the Tropical Agriculture Workshop will offer 20 participants a chance to engage in hands on practice related to:
- Moringa (Moringa oleifera) propagation, production and processing of products.
- Basic fruit tree grafting and propagation.
- Soap making for development.
- Natural farming for pig and compost production
- Backyard mushroom production.
- Introduction to vermiculture (to be held at Mae Jo University).
For More Information Click Here:
http://asia.echonet.org/content/Workshops |
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Announcing the
2011 ECHO Asia Agriculture and Community Development Conference
October 3-7, 2011
The Empress Hotel
Chiang Mai, Thailand
Online Registration Begins March 1, 2011
Conference Costs: Package 1 (Single Room): $405 USD Package 2 (Double Room Sharing): $325 USD Includes: - Accommodation for 4 nights
- Daily buffet breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, Thursday BBQ dinner
- All meetings and post-conference tour
- Roundtrip airport transportation
Package 3: $225 USD (intended for local residents and excludes accommodation and breakfast) Confirmed Plenary Speakers - Tony Rinaudo, Natural Resource Management Specialist with World Vision
- Dr. Tom Post, CRWRC Team Leader for Asia
- Dr. Arnat Tancho, head of the Soil Resources and Environment Department at Maejo University (Chiang Mai)
- Dr. S.V. Ngachan, Director of the Indian Center for Agricultural Research (ICAR) Research Complex in Meghalaya, Northeast India
- Randy Bevis, founder and director of the Chiang Mai Aquatic Development Farm and regional aquaculture advisor
- Jeff Palmer, Executive Director of Baptist Global Response
- Heather Morris, Technical Advisor for World Concern Myanmar
Workshops ECHO conferences place a special emphasis on the participation of network members to share ideas, innovations and experiences during afternoon and evening workshops. Feel free to contact us (echoasia@echonet.org) to propose a workshop presentation. Post Conference Tours including site visits related to: - SRI and natural rice production
- Small-scale alternative energy for communities, institutions, farms and households
- Agroforestry
- Green manure cover crops
- Aquaculture
- Vermiculture
- Production of moringa and products such as powdered leaf meal and capsules
- Asian natural farming (microbial approaches to small scale agriculture)
Resource Fair Networking Opportunities |
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2010 Northeast India ECHO Conference
The 2010 ECHO Agricultural Conference for Northeast India was held during October 6-8 at the Indian Centre for Agricultural Research (ICAR) Complex near the city of Shillong. Jointly sponsored by the Northeast India Committee on Relief and Development (NEICORD), EDGE Outreach and ECHO, this event was the first national/regional agricultural and community development conference to be offered by the ECHO Asia Regional Office.
Approximately 50 persons were in attendance, mainly delegates from 15 Northeast India development organizations and church ministries.
Based on their regional research and extension activities, presentations by ICAR personnel included agricultural technological options for enhancing tribal farm livelihoods, approaches related to the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) and Integrated Crop Management (ICM), and participatory plant breeding for rice varieties in Northeast India.
Dave Brothers (EDGE Outreach) and Dr. Laura Yoder and Dr. Abram Bicksler (both from the International Sustainable Development Studies Institute), also offered presentations related to water purification, farmer managed crop improvement and simple research methodologies.
Additionally, personnel from regional development projects (NEICORD and RATARC) shared case studies about the implementation of Sloping Land Agricultural Technology (SALT) and FAITH (Food Always in the Home) gardening in their focus communities.
 | | Seed Swap Event |
A very popular activity, also led by Laura Yoder, was a seed swap event. During this session, seed and other plant material of various regional crop varieties, including seed from the ECHO Asia Seed Bank, was exchanged among the participants. ECHO Asia is planning to implement and promote similar events across the region.
The successful event would not have been possible without the involvement of NEICORD, under the direction of Rev. Dr. H.M. Songate (NEICORD CEO) and with coordination by Joshi Tuisom, NEICORD's Manager of Relief and Development.
Offering participants a chance to learn, share and network, the Northeast India conference set the standard for future ECHO events planned for various other locations in Asia. |
 | | SRI in NE India |
ECHO Partner Visits in India, Cambodia and Laos
During the months of October and November, members of the ECHO staff had opportunity to visit partners in India, Cambodia and Laos. The first was a consultation visit with NEICORD following the Northeast India ECHO Conference.
 | | Prey Veng Province |
Among other activities, NEICORD (with support from CRWRC and the Food Resource Bank) has begun promoting SRI in one focus area with 53 farmers having implemented the approach during 2010.
In Cambodia, Stan Doerr (ECHO CEO/President) and Rick Burnette followed up with former ECHO interns, Beth Steinbrenner (International Cooperation Cambodia), Holly Sobetski (CAMA Services) and Daphne and Ryan Fowler (Mennonite Central Committee). One day was devoted to visiting ICC work sites in Prey Veng Province where impressive agricultural activities related to catfish production, vermiculture and home gardening are being implemented.
 | | Agroasie Organic Farm. |
The trip to Laos during November also included partner visits and the chance to see work such as Lukas Blaser's production of mulberry tea leaves as well as Agroasie's organic vegetable farm. |
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Partner Announcements
Non-Profit Groups and Responsible Tourism The Chiang Mai-based Responsible Tourism Alliance (RTA) is starting a pilot project in January 2011 offering volunteer assistance to tourism SMEs and non-profit groups in Northern Thailand to get their products online, and direct to the market. The RTA promotes verifiably responsible tourism globally, as a means to enable both tourism SMEs, and non-profit agencies and their focus groups, to foster sustainable tourism development as well as to develop related revenue streams. For more detailed information, on the project and examples of suitable products contact:info@responsible-tourism-alliance.org. |
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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 |
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