ECHO Inc.

Around the world, small-scale farmers work hard to produce enough food for their families and
communities. However, among the 1 in 9 chronically hungry people, an estimated 70% rely
on small-scale agriculture for their livelihoods. For more than 40 years, ECHO has worked to equip these
farmers with agricultural resources – training, information, and seeds – that improve crop
production and reduce hunger. There is much more to be done!

To multiply the impact of ECHO’s work, this Strategic Plan outlines two bold new goals. By 2024:

• Over 500,000 people will benefit annually from ECHO’s direct trainings; and,
• Over 17,500 development workers will benefit from ECHO’s global resources.

This plan’s first big goal is to increase the number of people who annually benefit from ECHO’s direct trainings from an estimated 300,000 in 2016 to over 500,000 in 2024.

Simultaneously, ECHO will expand its engagement with, and resourcing of, development workers around the world – increasing those directly served from over 11,000 in 2016 to more than 17,500 in 2024.

In late 2015, ECHO was actively resourcing 10,000 of these development practitioners who reported that through them ECHO had benefited over 5.8 million women, children, and men around the world. Expanding ECHO’s global services to over 17,500 of these development practitioners may enable them to benefit over 10 million people with ECHO resources.

Two additional strategic steps are integral to the increases in engagement and impact:

1. The incorporation of ECHO’s training modules into an online agricultural curriculum; and,
2. The development of a Regional Impact Team to serve South Asia (inc. India).

ECHO is uniquely positioned to provide technical support globally. For more than 40 years, ECHO has been building its network of international development workers as well as its repository of proven techniques, plants and farming systems. Seeking to "complement and complete, not compete" we equip all with the knowledge and skills that can enable small-scale farming families to not simply survive but to thrive.

ECHO's core asset is its global network of international development workers and organizations. The impact of the ECHOcommunity network is substantiated by over 44,000 small-scale farmers, development workers and missionaries from 190+ countries who access our site monthly for proven resources and solutions. A survey among network members revealed that each member impacts on average 153 other people with ECHO resources. This leveraging effect has allowed ECHO resources to reach hundreds of thousands of small-scale farmers.

As an organization, ECHO is well-equipped with a committed staff of 80, and over 800 volunteers per year. ECHO is rated among the Top 3% of all evaluated charities in the US by Charity Navigator and has been consistently awarded the highest "4-star+ rating for the last several years.

Since the adoption of the 2017-24 Strategic Plan, ECHO’s global team has been focused on the two goals – direct training and global resourcing. To provide independent assessments of progress, ECHO enlisted the services of an outside firm. Every year since the Plan was approved, the adoption, application, and multiplication of ECHO’s direct training has been assessed. Every other year, a similar assessment of ECHO’s global resourcing through ECHOcommunity has also been assessed.

Every year since 2017, both the number of people directly trained globally and the number of ECHOcommunity members has continued to increase. Most surprising, and gratifying, has been the multiplication rates – the frequency with which both direct trainees and ECHOcommunity members utilize and share what they have gained from ECHO! Based on these assessments, it has been determined that ECHO’s direct training work is benefiting well over 1 million men, women, and children each year; ECHO’s global resourcing is also reaching millions of development workers and the communities they serve each year. By 2020, by God’s grace and multiplying blessing, ECHO met and exceeded the audacious goals laid-out in the Strategic Plan.

Launching a new team to serve South Asia is a key strategic step for the future. The need is extraordinary -- 38% of India's children under 5 suffer from stunting due to malnourishment. ECHO's newly launched mobile app will allow users to carry resources into the field and share that information with others even in remote villages when there is limited or no internet. Translating the app into nine widely used languages was a priority in 2021 as we expanded the reach of ECHO's relevant, reliable and proven resources so that more families can feed themselves and their communities.