Growing up in the DR Congo, tropical agriculture was all around me. Every family owned fields that they grew manioc, corn, and peanuts in. All the tools and technologies where simple and often locally made with local materials.

Day two of conference has continued to equip and encourage our delegates. Presentations about alternative energy options and the making of low-cost fertilizers and pesticides complemented the talk by ECHO's President Stan Doerr about how ECHO can help network members be more effective.

One network member shared the following reaction to today's System of Rice Intesification (SRI) Roundtable and workshop:

"The exciting thing for me is that I had read 15 journal articles related to SRI practices and it has all been extremely couched in academic language and has largely centered on the debate about whether or not the SRI claims are legitimate. Here, the focus has instead been hands-on. farmer oriented, and the types of questions asked in today's workshop were more practical such as 'How have the farmers reacted to the challenge to take up SRI practices?' This has helped me immensely to understand more about how this will work in my area.

By SUSAN JACOBSE

What do First Lady Michelle Obama, First Lady of California Maria Shriver, and the First Lady of American organic cuisine have in common with the kids at Bonita Middle School?

They are all changing the landscape of education, nutrition, and cooking by planting Edible Gardens.