Issue 15 Stories

Resource Spotlight

Symposium Shared Lessons, Technologies, and Experience

Share on

At ECHO East Africa’s recent symposium on appropriate technologies and renewable energy, presentations by innovators proposed solutions toseveral regional challenges. These presentations can be found on ECHOcommunity.org

1. Pioneering Innovations in Water Technology

Smart Irrigation: Efficient use of water for irrigation

A group of local engineers provide a solution for monitoring water use by an irrigation system operated remotely through mobile phones. A farmer can use a phone to send an SMS to the farm soil sensor to know if the field needs to be watered. If needed, the farmer can send another SMS to switch on the pump and deliver water.

Cleaning water through low-cost Nanofilters

A Nanofilter is a water purification system invented by Askwar Hilonga, a professor at the Nelson Mandela African Institute of Technology. It provides safe water by removing bacteria and other microorganisms, excess fluoride, and arsenic, whose presence exceeds toxic thresholds in water systems all along the African Rift Valley. The filter was evaluated by the World Health Organization (WHO) and has a performance of 99.9999%.

Life Pumps by Greg Bixler

Life Pumps help tackle the world’s water crisis by creating a durable, deep-reaching hand pump suitable for developing countries.

Greg’s experience shows that frequent failures of water systems are sometimes costlier if the initial quality is compromised at the beginning.

2. Post-harvesting Technologies at Small-scale

Engineering Technology Hubs (ETHs)

A presenter from CAMARTEC demonstrated the way Engineering Technology Hubs (ETHs) have promoted appropriate strategies to finance agro-processing for industry and smallholder farmers.

The services provided by the hubs include building participant skills and creating awareness about different technologies. Affordable prices are set for farmers in order to use the technologies either by renting the equipment to do the work at their farms or bringing the crops to the hub.

Airtight Underground Grain Storage.

Storage pits offer the advantages of relatively easy construction, low cost, safety from theft, good thermal insulation, and protection from moisture, rodent attack, and insect infestation.

3. Entrepreneurship: Bridging the Gap between Technical Knowledge and Application

For smallholder farmers and innovators in other fields, the challenge remains constant: getting their produce from the field without loss and into a reliable market for a stable source of income.

Local innovators often do not have access to entrepreneurs even though it is just as important as creating innovations. Entrepreneurship has its own techniques and this session explained the steps and process of bridging the gap between knowledge and application.

Next Story

Field Experience: Blessings and Lessons Learned

When their time in Fort Myers, Florida came to an end, John Yann and Chrissy Mahoney brought their newly acquired knowledge and techniques to Chiang Mai, Thailand where they immersed themselves in a rich culture of people and agriculture for six months.
Feature

Moving Toward Energy Self-Sufficiency

Biogas model paves the way to energy self-sufficiency. Tubular digester trainings plant the seed for rural East African areas to be more financially successful and energy self-sufficient.

From the President/CEO

It’s an exciting time at our Centers around the world! As we launch the new Five-year Strategic Framework each Impact Center will live into the context and needs of their region.

A Different Kind of ‘Fun in the Sun’

For the past 30 years, John Hanson has brought groups of Indiana students to ECHO’s Florida campus to volunteer mid-summer.
Feature

Cultivating an Abundance

From the Global Farm to the fields of Immokalee, ECHO’s partnership with local organization “Cultivate Abundance” has produced an overflow of fresh fruits and vegetables to feed those in need and fulfill those who serve them.

When the Buffalo Come, You Adapt

A farm in Southeast Asia lost its source of clean water and was able to implement ECHO’s four-barrel water filtration system made by hand.

Symposium Shared Lessons, Technologies, and Experience

At ECHO East Africa’s recent symposium on appropriate technologies and renewable energy, presentations by innovators proposed solutions to several regional challenges.

Field Experience: Blessings and Lessons Learned

When their time in Fort Myers, Florida came to an end, John Yann and Chrissy Mahoney brought their newly acquired knowledge and techniques to Chiang Mai, Thailand where they immersed themselves in a rich culture of people and agriculture for six months.
Feature

First South Sudan Symposium

A dream ten years in the making came true this February. 85 network members serving war-torn South Sudan came together to learn, share, and change lives.