ECHO is a non-profit, Christian organization that serves missionaries and development workers affiliated with hundreds of organizations in 180 countries around the world. We provide them with a networking technical bulletin (ECHO Development Notes), answer their specific agricultural questions, link them with other resource people and organizations, provide learning opportunities, and give them access to a wide variety of germplasm for plants which have proven useful under tropical growing conditions.

In southwest Florida, ECHO operates something akin to a botanical garden (though not nearly as formal) of plants that are important to small-scale farmers and gardeners in Third World countries. It also includes demonstrations of other components important on the small farm (e.g., small animals and appropriate technologies).

However, ECHO is not a farm in the common sense of having large fields of crops and herds of animals. Our goal is to improve the capability of individuals to make a significant impact on agricultural development internationally by providing training and educational opportunities at the ECHO campus. The "farm" serves as a learning tool for interns, as a demonstration farm for missionaries and students, as an educational tool for public tours, and as a production farm for seeds and nursery plants.

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Our programs are designed to meet the needs of a number of groups.

Internship Program

The first group includes residents of North American who are interested in overseas service. Our 15-month internship and this self-directed student program acquaint participants with some of the techniques, problems, and resources for the small farmer or urban gardener struggling to make a living under marginal conditions. We intend that this experience will give the person an understanding of Third World agricultural development as a career opportunity.

• Tropical Agriculture Internship

Independent Study (Non-formal Education)

The second group includes missionaries, nationals, and others already working overseas doing development work. ECHO provides a self-study opportunity to allow them to research topics of concern and to introduce them to useful resources. ECHO welcomes visitors to work and study with us. These “students” are given the opportunity to work on the farm (with our underexploited plants, semi-organic gardening, rooftop gardening, care for small animals, weeding, etc.), make use of the resources in our library, and interact with ECHO staff.

Students generally spend half of each day working with ECHO interns at various tasks, depending on the season and needs at the time. We encourage students to value this time of work because it is a time of learning in a hands-on setting.Work can involve some combination of six main areas: working with plants, working on weeding, working on general maintenance, working with animals, working with appropriate technologies and working with people. In each case, emphasis is on Third World settings and plant and animal species that are appropriate for the tropics or subtropics.

The remaining half-day usually is spent in study. ECHO staff provides students with an explanation of how to use our library and other resources, a listing of topics and key books, and some limited interaction to assist students in refining their study program. A weekly intern or staff seminar gives exposure to a variety of topics. Students also have the opportunity to interact with missionary guests who might visit ECHO during their time of study.

College Courses (Formal Education)

ECHO currently hosts two college courses through Gordon College and the AuSable Institute. ECHO partners with these universities by providing the resources for these classes to take place, such as the farm, housing, and staff to speak on occassion. However, credit for these courses are given by the mentioned institutions, ECHO simply hosts these courses.

To learn more about these courses, visit the links below:

ECHO's Agricultural Conference

Every year, individuals from all over the world meet in Fort Myers, Florida for ECHO's Annual Agricultural Conference. The conference is a 4 day event, where missionaries, development workers, college students, and individuals interested in working overseas gather to attend workshops, listen to speakers, gather resources from the Bookstore and Library, and troubleshoot agricultural problems by networking with each other. Although this is not a formal study program, many conference delegates have affirmed that the conference is indeed an amazing time to gather information, ideas, training in specific topics, and seeds. ECHO encourages anyone working overseas, preparing to work overseas, or thinking about working overseas in agriculture to attend.

For more information about ECHO's Agricultural Conference, click here.

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