December 4-6, 2012

Fort Myers, Florida

Make plans today to attend ECHO's 19th Annual ECHO Agricultural Conference! The event brings together some of the world’s most influential voices dedicated to eradicating hunger and improving lives.

Speakers will share practical solutions to agricultural challenges, personal experiences and strategies for improving the lives of millions who daily face the threat of starvation. The event offers an open exchange of information, connecting the people and ideas that can make a real and sustainable difference.

Conference accommodation and meeting rooms for morning and evening sessions will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (http://www.cpfortmyers.com/) in the Bell Tower district of Fort Myers. Afternoon workshops and demonstrations will be held at the 50-acre ECHO farm in North Fort Myers, which has one of the largest collections of tropical fruits and vegetables in the Unites States. 

We have received many requests to have more substantial meals for lunch, and have therefore changed our meal plan.  We will provide the continental breakfast buffet and a robust lunch on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, with a special closing Banquet on Thursday evening.  No other meals will be provided. This means that you will have the opportunity on Tuesday and Wednesday evening to eat in one of the many eating establishments in the Fort Myers area, depending on your available transportaion.  The cost of the meals provided by ECHO is included in your registration fee. 

Registration for EAC 2012 will open in April 2012.

Norman Uphoff, PhD. The System of Rice Intensification (SRI): An Application of Agroecology.  Dr. Uphoff is a professor of Government and International Agriculture at Cornell University and former director of the Cornell International Institute for Food, Agriculture, and Development, 1990 to 2005. His work has focused on development administration, irrigation management, local participation, and strategies for broad-based rural development. His current development interests have expanded beyond the social sciences to include agro-ecology, particularly SRO and its extrapolation to other crops beyond rice.

Eric Toumieux, Introducing TIPA, an Israeli Low-Gravity Drip-Irrigation Scheme in Rural Senegal with World Vision. Eric and his family have been working 10 years in Senegal as Members of SIL among the Serer people. From 2004 to 2009, Eric was Director of World Vision Senegal, an international humanitarian & development Christian NGO, where he introduced techniques such as Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration (FMNR) and TIPA drip irrigation into rural development programs. In 2009, he left World Vision to start the Beer Sheba project, an agro-forestry initiative aimed at transforming the behaviors and attitudes of young farmers living in rural communities of Senegal (see www.beershebaproject.org). Eric holds an Msc in International Management from the MBA Institute in Paris and was trained as a linguist.

Ray Norman, PhD.  Transformative or Appropriate? Reflections on Technology for the Poor 
Dr. Norman presently serves as dean of the School of Science, Engineering and Health at Messiah College in Pennsylvania. Ray is trained as an agricultural engineer, and early in his career worked in Africa and the Middle East as an agricultural water management specialist. for some 10+ years. His professional interests have focused primarily on the interface between socio-cultural systems and technology, and poverty alleviation. Before joining Messiah College in 2002, he also served as National Director for World Vision in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. He contiues to serve as an international development consultant/advisor to various NGO's and bi-lateral insitutions, and works with a number of on-going research intiatives in the developing world.

Jim Goering, PhD will present a talk entitled, "The State of Food and Agriculture, 2009-10: Signs of Hope; Reasons for Concern" Dr. Goering has taught at the University of California/Berkeley, served as an agricultural policy advisor to the Governments of Malaysia and Ethiopia, spent 22 years as an economist with the World Bank in its offices in DC, Beijing and Ethiopia, and served as a program director with World Vision/US. He now serves as Vice-Chair, ECHO Board of Directors.

Cory and Kris Thede. Common Sense Lessons from Haiti’s Earthquake
This talk will give an update on recovery efforts in Haiti in light of the recent earthquake there; principles will be applicable to disaster response in other parts of the world as well. Cory, a former ECHO intern with a degree in fruit horticulture, concentrates on introducing crops and techniques to increase production, diversity and quality of agriculture in his community. Kris’ main roles include homeschooling and practicing family medicine. They have served in Haiti 12 years with Global Partners.

Bruce French, Helping the Hungry Feed Themselves. 
Bruce is a Tasmanian born and trained Agriculturist who has taught Food Crop Production in Papua New Guinea and done several consultancies for International Agencies for that country. He has produced a series of books on Food Plants, Pests, Diseases, Nutrition and Crop Production for both Papua New Guinea and Solomon islands. He has compiled a database of edible plants of the world covering over 22,000 species. He has also pastored churches and worked with Intervarsity around Universities in Australia.

Diane Ragone, PhD.  The Potential of Breadfruit for Food and Reforestation. 
Dr. Ragone is an authority on the conservation and use of breadfruit and has conducted horticultural and ethnobotanical studies on this important Pacific staple crop for 27 years. She is Director of the Breadfruit Institute at the National Tropical Botanical Garden and manages the world's largest collection of breadfruit with more than 120 varieties. The Breadfruit Institute has developed revolutionary methods to produce millions of breadfruit plants using in vitro propagation technology. The Institute is engaged in an initiative to distribute nutritious varieties of breadfruit to support food security, sustainable agriculture, and income generation for small holder farmers in the tropics.

Bev Abma will present a talk entitled 'Moving from Research Into Practice' Bev is the Executive Director of Overseas Programming for the Foods Resource Bank, working with 15 member agencies in the sustainable food security aspects of their work.  She has a background in health care but has lived and worked in international development with Christian based organizations since the early 1980s, and has learned from visits to food security programs in more than 60 countries.

Robert Sanou, National Coordinator for ACCEDES in Burkina Faso, will present a talk entitled 'Moving from Relief to Development'.  In responding to the needs of a region or community, it is necessary to understand the differences between relief and development.  Robert Sanou will discuss the concepts of relief and development, how they differ, and how both short- and long-term human needs can be addressed.  His presentation will shed light on how a relief situation can often be used to move a community from a hand-out mode into a more long-term community development focus.

Evening Speakers (25 minute PowerPoint talks or 60 minute discussion topics)

Please be aware that some of the info below could change as we make final adjustments to the program.  Locations will be indicated on a map that will be included in the program bookelt each delegate receives.

* workshop repeats

Friday, December 10th

POST CONFERENCE WORKSHOP I

Perennial Vegetables -  Eric Toensmeier

There are numerous perennial vegetable species that are long-lived, productive, and low-maintenance. Many can grow in conditions too wet, dry, infertile, or shady for annual crops, and provide nutrition in seasons when annuals do not yield. This day-long post-conference workshop will include a tour ECHO’s remarkable collection of perennial vegetables including trees, shrubs, vines, cacti, herbaceous perennials and groundcovers.

Eric Toensmeier has spent much of his adult life exploring edible and useful plants of the world and their use in perennial agroecosystems. He is the author of Perennial Vegetables of and co-author of Edible Forest Gardens with Dave Jacke. Eric ran an urban farm project for Nuestras Raíces in Holyoke Massachusetts, providing access to land and startup assistance for immigrant and refugee beginning farmers. He is fluent in English and Spanish, and is working with organizations in Mexico to develop a database of useful perennial species for agroforestry and permaculture

POST CONFERENCE WORKSHOP  II

Gardening Hand Tools - Beth Doerr 

Many places in the world lack simple hand tools for gardening although their societies are based on agriculture.  The addition of a garden rake or a garden trowel or a new hoe can make a big difference in the ease of gardening.  Developing the skills and confidence to produce simple hand tools is an activity that can have a long-lasting impact for individuals and a community. This workshop will explain how to make simple garden rakes, hand trowels and hand forks from scrap wood, metal and nails and participants will have an opportunity to make one hand tool.  [Limited to 15 Participants]

Beth Doerr is a former intern who returned to ECHO in 2004 after working for 13 years in agriculture and community development throughout the tropics.  She currently serves as the Intern Manager and is responsible for the animals, and directing the appropriate technology department at ECHO.