When someone is searching online for the “nutrient content of moringa”, ECHOcommunity.org will pop up leading them to a knowledge base of proven techniques and resources to help small-scale farming families. A search for “almacenamiento de semillas” (seed saving in Spanish) will lead to ECHOcommunity’s vast collection of multi-lingual resources.

While businesses in many countries around the globe have closed temporarily, ECHOcommunity. org has continued to grow. In April and May, as people were self-quarantining around the world, ECHOcommunity use rose: providing free agricultural resources to more than 128,000 individuals from 190 countries. This growth is, however, not unique to recent months. Year over year, ECHOcommunity has seen a 300% increase in users and 220% increase in individual sessions. 

When asked about the reasons for this growth, the ECHOcommunity team noted: “The primary reason the site is growing is the fact that we provide free and open access to our resources. Open Access is a set of principles and practices by which the fruit of our research is distributed without cost or other barriers.

ECHOcommunity.org offers thousands of valuable, discoverable resources relevant to reducing hunger and poverty globally. When we help people find what they need and allow them to freely share it, our mission is accomplished.”