ECHO Staffers Join Agriculture Conference in Nicaragua

Last month, four ECHO interns and four staff members traveled to Nicaragua to take part in a Latin American agricultural conference hosted by Rancho Ebenezer.

Patterned after ECHO’s annual conference, held each year at our headquarters in North Fort Myers, the Latin American conference lasted three days and featured lectures each morning and workshops in the afternoon.

‘At Rancho Ebenezer,’ intern Emily Andree tells us, ‘they are very concerned with earth stewardship.’ Citing Genesis 2:15, The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it, the ranch’s philosophy emphasizes zero-graze animal pens, sustainable forage crops integrated with SALT (Sloping Agricultural Land Technology), and water catchment systems for rain run-off.

Rancho Ebenezer focuses on three main principles that resonate with ECHO’s own mission and was an ideal location for interns to experience agricultural development in an international setting. Like ECHO, Rancho Ebenezer wants to help the poor learn to grow food for themselves, care for the environment, and provide people with practical experience.

¡Qué un viaje bueno!