January/February 2001

Planting Seeds of Hope

At the dawn of the new millennium, the world still faces many age-old problems. A group working to solve one of the most important is located in our own back yard, and the results of its good works echo around the globe.
    The mandate of North Ft. Myers-based ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization) is straightforward: to fight world hunger through ideas, information, seeds, and training. Stated officially, it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, interdenominational Christian association that "strengthens the ministry of missionaries and national churches as they work with small rural farmers or urban gardeners in the Third World. Assistance is also offered to Peace Corps volunteers and development organizations."
Financial support comes from hundreds of churches, individuals, grants for projects, and proceeds from its extensive bookshop, gift shop, and Edible Landscape Nursery. Free tours of the demonstration farm are offered at 10 a.m. Tuesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Inside the main building at ECHO’s 21-acre farm are the shops, offices, mailroom, and 80-seat meeting room. Another new building houses the library. Dwight Youngkin, who drives twice a week from Venice, Florida, to volunteer, is one of the tour docents on duty to show a short video and lead a walking tour.
    Before screening the video in the meeting room, Youngkin explains that ECHO "is not so much a research organization but a networking one. We compile and share successes from around the world with missionaries, the Peace Corps, the U.S. Agency for International Development, and universities. It’s like an agriculture extension service to the Third World."
    More than 3,000 people in 130 countries read ECHO Development Notes, a quarterly technical networking bulletin. Third World subscriptions are free and the bulletin is posted on the ECHO Web site.
    After viewing the thought-provoking video, we step outside and learn that just ahead, ECHO executive director Dr. Martin Price is leading three men on a special tour. Price, a biochemist, came aboard in 1981 when the "H" in ECHO stood only for Haiti. Under his leadership, the organization has expanded widely. This morning, he is with a representative from the U.S. Agency for International Development and two South African agricultural leaders.
    Our initial stop is a net-covered tasting table with samples from the Edible Landscape Nursery. The nursery is staffed mainly by interns and offers the public an opportunity to purchase more than 70 species of "common and hard-to-find fruits, vegetables, herbs, and spices for Southwest Florida’s subtropical climate." I munch on Japanese persimmon, which is crunchy and good, almost like an apple. Other samples include carambola (star fruit), grapefruit, papaya, sweet dessert bananas, and three kinds of cherries.
    The tasting table is located under a neem tree, or toothbrush tree, which has antibacterial properties. In addition, when dried neem tree leaves are put in water, the strained liquid works as an insecticide.
    Of major importance are the farm’s mini-environments and first on the tour is the semi-arid greenhouse, housed under a plastic tarp. Since Florida is so humid, a completely arid greenhouse is not feasible. Plants growing in this area include sorghum, candlestick millet, jack bean, cotton, cassava (manioc), and cacti.
    The moringa tree grows very quickly in semi-arid conditions and also grows in tropical areas. In the Philippines, the moringa is called "Mother’s best friend" because its leaves are cooked and fed to babies. Moringa seeds are among ECHO’s most requested.
    "Ninety percent of what the world eats comes from about 30 plants, and we must change people’s mentality so they try others," Youngkin remarks. "Two Guyanese nuns had moringa trees but didn’t know it. When they started using the leaves, infant nutrition really improved. That is the story of ECHO."
    Interns get a lot of hands-on experience at the farm’s fruit tree arboretum, which has 150 varieties of 30 kinds of trees, planted on mounds in case of flooding. They include citrus, papaya, avocado, lychee nuts, and even apple trees. ECHO is involved with relatively new varieties of apple trees that, surprisingly, will bloom without experiencing freezing temperatures.
    Sweet potatoes are currently growing in the rotational garden. "After they are harvested, we’ll turn chickens in," Youngkin explains. "Chickens are like tractors, and they also lay eggs and are a meal-sized package." Many of the chickens are bare-necked turkins, which stand higher off the ground and are adapted to the tropics.
    Near a worm composting (vermiculture) project are several rabbit pens, where the animals are keeping cool under plants that are growing in planters on top of their pens. The planters are created from old tires and make it possible to grow produce or flowers in town, on a shanty, or on a low roof.
    Rabbits are important in the Third World because they eat a simple diet and also are a meal-sized package. Katahdin sheep and Nubian goats, occupants of a nearby livestock paddock, adapt to developing countries because they are small and eat a simple diet.
    "Ah, here is a fascinating plant," says Youngkin. "This is the annatto, or lipstick tree, and I will show you why. The oil from its seeds is used for rice, dyes, and cosmetics." He mashes a few seeds and some saliva into a reddish mess to prove his point. "The Third World diet is bland but adding annatto oil acceptably enhances the food. In fact, only one and a fourth ounces will color five tons of cheddar cheese."
    Next stop is the herb garden. "We just don’t use plants effectively in this world," Youngkin emphasizes. "Herbs and spices are so valuable for improving bland diets, medicinal purposes, and teas, to name a few." ECHO herb specialist Kaye Cude, who has never used pesticides in the garden, is widely regarded for her workshops on the uses of herbs and spices.
    While learning about lowland farming, we meet Charlie Forst, project developer for ECHO and self-described "jack of all trades." He demonstrates an irrigation hand pump that he helped make. The contraption was fashioned from an old tire, wood, plastic pipe, and cotton rope. Its washers are made from tire tread. Then Forst shows another hand pump, cleverly created out of an old bicycle.
    Nearby, we realize how different hillside farming is. A small hill has been terraced with borders of vetiver grass to stop erosion. "Poor people of the world get poor land," our docent states simply.
    ECHO’s seed bank is housed in a converted railroad refrigeration car but is off limits to visitors since its humidity is strictly controlled. It is a repository for 450 varieties of hard-to-obtain seeds that have special potential for hardy growth. Trial packets of the "Seeds of Hope" are sent free to ECHO’s overseas networks.
    The public can buy seeds in the gift shop and, before leaving, we visit the bookshop. Its selection is impressive with subjects ranging from animal husbandry to seeds and many editions are available in Spanish or French. Thanks to the ECHO Web site, it is now a global bookstore.
ECHO enlists help by suggesting ways to fight world hunger: Tell people who are working in the Third World about ECHO’s free services; volunteer at the farm; spread the word to your church, club or organization; purchase books and plants, and send donations regularly. That’s how its good works echo around the globe.
     ECHO is located at 17430 Durrance Road, North Ft. Myers, Florida, 33917-2239. Take Exit 26 off Interstate-75, go one mile east on Bayshore Road (Route 78) and turn left on Durrance Road. ECHO is the third property on the right. The phone number is 941/543-3246 and the fax is 941/543-5317. The e-mail address is [email protected] and the Web site is www.echonet.org.