What happens when development workers, farmers, and communities collaborate to save and share their most successful seeds? Food security takes root, independence grows, and resilience blossoms for generations.

ECHO has been delivering free trial seed packets through its Regional Impact Centers (RICs) across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and beyond for decades. These packets help farmers test nutritionally rich crops that are climate resilient and culturally relevant to their local needs. But a single packet is often just the beginning.

As these crops succeed, communities take the next step by saving their own seeds and beginning to establish their own community seed banks, so the benefits multiply far beyond the trial phase.

What is a Community Seed Bank?

A community seed bank is a locally managed collection of seeds maintained by and for the community. Unlike commercial seed systems, these banks focus on preserving agricultural biodiversity, protecting Neglected and Underutilized Species (NUS), and ensuring smallholder farmers have dependable access to high-quality seeds adapted to their environment.

Community seed banks:

• Preserve traditional and local seed varieties vital to the community’s culture and diet
• Reduce dependency on buying seeds from outside suppliers
• Help crops withstand climate shocks and changing weather patterns
• Put seed decisions back into farmers’ hands
• Keep seeds accessible to everyone, including the most vulnerable

Why They Matter Now More Than Ever

Community seed banks close that gap in regions where commercial seed systems can’t or won’t serve smallholder farmers. Because the seeds are often saved from the best-performing local crops, they are better suited to the conditions farmers face—drought in East Africa, flooding in Southeast Asia, or poor soils in Central America.

Seed Banks at ECHO’s Regional Impact Centers include:

• East Africa: What started in 2014 with just two dozen seed samples is now 816 accessions, distributing over 30,000 packets in ten countries from 2022 to 2024. Many banks are run by women graduates of ECHO’s Seed Bank Manager Trainings—women who now lead local networks, multiplying both seeds and impact.
• West Africa: ECHO’s community seed bank (banque de semences communautaire) was established in 2024. It preserves and multiplies farmer-managed seeds such as maize, okra, millet, and sorghum. By the end of 2025, 30 varieties will have been cataloged, contributed by farmers who save and share seeds from their harvests. Traditional practices of storing seeds in granaries, jars, or barrels, often with ash or neem leaves for protection, are strengthened through ECHO’s trainings, cleaning, trial plantings, and multiplication efforts. As producers learn to establish their own seed banks, local biodiversity and resilience will grow across the region.
• Asia: Since 2009, ECHO Asia’s seed bank has grown from 170 initial samples to more than 500 accessions. Farmers from Laos to Myanmar now plant crops once nearly forgotten—restoring biodiversity and strengthening nutrition one harvest at a time.
• Central America & the Caribbean: Community Seed Banks (known in CAC as “seed reservoir/reservorio de semillas” or “seed house/casa de semillas”) preserve Indigenous and peasant varieties that might otherwise disappear due to restrictive seed laws or overreliance on imported hybrids.
• North America: The Global Seed Bank at ECHO Florida supplies the Free Trial Seeds program and conducts variety trials, sharing results with practitioners worldwide, often as far as Timor Leste in the South Pacific!

A Story of Multiplication: Amaranth in Guatemala

Sometimes, a seed bank’s legacy can be measured in decades. In 2001, Tara Cahill of the Cloud Forest Conservation Community in Guatemala took home a small packet of Mexican Grain Amaranth from ECHO’s seed bank in Florida. She planted it in Alta Verapaz for use in school and family gardens.

Twenty-four years later, Tara is still planting, multiplying, and sharing those same seeds. Amaranth, a nutrient-rich ancient grain, now grows in fields and gardens across the region—supporting healthier diets, better soils, and stronger communities.

“I have been planting, multiplying, and enjoying them for twenty-four years straight,” Tara says. 

This is a true testament to the enduring power of a single shared seed.

From Free Seeds to Seed Sovereignty

ECHO’s Free Trial Seeds program often sparks the creation of community seed banks—but it doesn’t stop there. We also:

• Provide hands-on training for seed bank managers in harvesting, cleaning, and storing seed for long-term viability.
• For nearly 10 years, we have facilitated opportunities for active seed bank managers to gather to share practical experiences, discuss operations challenges, and discuss strategies for consolidation and support.
• Share low-cost storage innovations, like the bicycle-powered vacuum seed dryer in Thailand.
• Produce multilingual training videos and books, such as Community Seed Bank Options, to guide others in starting their own local seed systems.

These initiatives ensure farmers aren’t just recipients of seeds; they become stewards, trainers, and innovators in their own right.

Ready to Start or Support a Community Seed Bank?

Visit ECHOcommunity.org for free resources on:

• Seed-saving techniques for tropical and challenging climates
• Guides for establishing a community seed bank
• Best practices for storing seeds where pests, heat, and humidity are challenges

Helping Communities Own Their Futures

When communities own their seed systems, they own their future. What begins with a handful of seeds, shared freely, can grow into a lasting source of health, resilience, and hope for generations.

On July 7–9, ECHO Asia’s Impact Center in Chiang Mai became a vibrant hub for collaboration and learning as leaders from 16 organizations, from grassroots NGOs to top research teams, gathered for the Global Holistic MEAL Symposium. Their shared goal was to explore how Monitoring, Evaluation, Accountability, and Learning (MEAL) can help drive holistic development across communities.

“This event showed the power of ECHO as a convening organization,” reflected Gerrianne, ECHO’s new MEAL lead. “We’re not just collecting data, we’re building trust, sharing lessons, and multiplying impact.”

A Space for Shared Learning

The symposium started with a lively “World Café” where participants shared their MEAL journeys, including the challenges, successes, and lessons learned. Case studies spotlighted practical tools, from qualitative partner assessments to FAO’s Tool for Agroecology Performance Evaluation (TAPE), and innovative data models to track change over time. A key theme rang clear: strong MEAL practices let organizations focus on what truly makes a difference in people’s lives, fostering shared growth and community impact.

One attendee summed it up:
“I feel less alone now. No matter our organization’s size, we share the same challenges.”

Co-Creating Solutions

Day two moved to a collaborative charrette, with teams tackling urgent MEAL priorities: defining the right metrics, ensuring data quality, and designing actionable implementation. The session generated real-world strategies and best practices to be shared in an upcoming ECHO white paper, reflecting vibrant collective innovation.

Trust-Based Philanthropy: A Convergence of Trust, Stories, and Impact

On the final morning, a panel on trust-based philanthropy highlighted how stories, statistics, and organizational trust go hand in hand. The discussion featured Scott Sabin, President of Plant With Purpose, who shared how his organization grew from tracking impact for five families in the Dominican Republic to comprehensive evaluations across all families served. It was a shift that revealed fuller stories of success and opportunity.

“Without knowing how we’re doing, we can’t do anything with confidence,” Sabin explained. “While MEAL is sometimes viewed as optional, it’s actually the compass that guides our organization.” Plant With Purpose’s commitment to meaningful impact measurement propelled growth from $5M in revenue in 2020 to $14M in 2025, a change Sabin attributes to major donors prioritizing measurable results.

Participants reflected on key takeaways, identified barriers to implementing trust-based philanthropy, and committed to action steps in their own contexts.

The event closed with a farewell dinner on the banks of the Ping River, a fitting end to three days of connection, reflection, and vision-casting.

Why Collaboration Matters

Beyond the workshops and panels, the symposium deepened a spirit of belonging and encouragement. One participant shared:

“This was a fruitful time of learning. It’s challenged us to keep revising and improving our MEAL program.”

For Gerrianne, the experience confirmed:
“We can learn from the mistakes and replicate the successes of brilliant organizations around the table and begin this journey filled with motivation and inspiration.”

Looking Ahead

The conversations and connections sparked in Chiang Mai will continue through the release of the symposium whitepaper, future training opportunities, and ongoing collaboration across the network.

At ECHO, we believe measuring what matters is more than collecting data. It’s about listening, learning, and walking alongside communities to co-create lasting change.

Interested in learning more? Visit ECHOcommunity.org for access to resources, new research, and upcoming event announcements.

West Africa carries some of the world’s heaviest burdens of rural poverty and food insecurity. In that challenge, ECHO’s West Africa Impact Center in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, has become a beacon quietly equipping those who serve smallholder farmers with practical, low-cost options that restore land, strengthen harvests, and open doors for holistic ministry. 

Through resource centers, on-farm demonstrations, and hands-on training, thousands of farmers, development workers, and church partners across the region are learning sustainable practices that improve food security and family livelihoods.

What does that look like on the ground? Meet Adama Boro. He joined an ECHO sustainable agriculture training in March 2024 and returned home determined to try what he’d learned about improved planting methods and biofertilizers suited to his context. When his 2025 corn harvest came in, it was so abundant that neighbors whispered about witchcraft. Adama knew better. The increase came from better stewardship of the soil, and it gave him an unexpected opening to talk about hope, change, and the truth of the Gospel.

“I have never had such a production before,” he says. “With ECHO’s techniques, we can make an agricultural revolution in Burkina.” 

Training participants across the region are discovering that even in harsh conditions, crops can thrive when conservation-focused methods like those taught in Foundations for Farming protect soil, conserve moisture, and manage fields with care. Improvements stack over time: healthier soil, steadier yields, and more margin for families living close to hunger.

And hunger remains a pressing reality. An estimated 58% of Africa’s population, roughly 300 million people, faces moderate to severe food insecurity. Every improved field matters.

Robert Sanou, founding director of ECHO West Africa, is guiding this long-term effort. Based in Burkina Faso, Robert has spent more than a decade building the Center and previously led the multi-sectoral development organization ACCEDES for 15+ years. With advanced degrees in project management and law, fluency in French and English, and extensive regional consulting experience, he brings a deep commitment to empowering communities across West Africa.

Want to learn what’s working? ECHO regularly shares West Africa field updates, practical “how-to” resources (in French & English), training opportunities, and stories like Adama’s that you can apply in the places you serve. Learn more and stay connected on ECHOCommunity.org and sign up for ECHO News to receive the latest tools and updates on our work ending hunger around the world.

In May 2025, farmer-trainers, beekeepers, and development leaders gathered in Guatemala to explore stingless native bees and agroecology. Listening in the circle was Katalina Landaeta, newly appointed director of ECHO’s Central America & Caribbean (CAC) Regional Impact Center. The stories she heard that day of fragile soils, storm losses, and communities eager to learn from one another capture the heartbeat of this new center.

ECHO’s Central America & Caribbean Regional Impact Center exists to partner with smallholder farmers and development workers by sharing practical, sustainable options that help reduce hunger and improve livelihoods across the region. The Center received official Board approval in 2024 and began foundational work in January 2025 under Katalina’s leadership. From day one, the posture has been simple: listen first, build trust, then co-create solutions that fit local realities.

The CAC team first focused on relationship-building and collaborative learning to ground the work in regional priorities. Across Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, ECHO organized four national gatherings that brought together approximately 50 organizations and leaders in each country.

Through facilitated dialogue, participants surfaced shared agricultural and food security challenges, co-developed collaborative training agendas with local practitioners, and began laying the groundwork for future seed banking efforts to strengthen adaptive agriculture. Each event helped knit together relationships that will carry this work forward.

Central America and the Caribbean face overlapping vulnerabilities, climate shocks, fragile food systems, and resource constraints, yet communities remain resilient and innovative. Public health and development data paint a clear picture of both need and opportunity:

In 2022, 7.2 million people in the Caribbean experienced hunger, and more than 60% of the region’s population faced moderate or severe food insecurity. (PAHO) At the same time, the area is routinely battered by weather extremes, with an average of eight tropical storms or hurricanes striking each year. (CEPAL) Agriculture is overwhelmingly small-scale: about 70% of farmland is managed by smallholders. (FAO) These are precisely the farmers ECHO seeks to encourage—with context-appropriate innovations they can test, adapt, and share.

Climate variability, degraded soils, and market instability mean farmers need options that work under stress. Evidence shows climate-smart farming practices can increase yields by 30–50%. (World Bank) Through the CAC RIC, ECHO is investing in the support that helps these practices take root:

• Strategic partnerships that connect local organizations, technical experts, and community leaders.
• Regionally relevant resources, including Spanish-translated technical notes, so knowledge is usable where it’s needed.
• Planning for a Small Farm Resource Center to provide demonstration plots, seed access, and hands-on learning.
• Continued network gatherings that accelerate farmer-to-farmer exchange across borders.

Resilience builds fastest when solutions are discovered, owned, and multiplied locally.

Central America contains 12% of the world’s biodiversity on just 2% of its land area. (IUCN) That ecological richness is more than a fun fact; it’s a wellspring for agroecological innovation. Diverse species, traditional knowledge, and locally adapted crops give smallholders tools to weather climate shocks, restore soils, and diversify income.

Katalina Landaeta leads the CAC RIC with a passion for farmer-led innovation and participatory research. She holds a B.S. in Environmental Sciences from Simón Patiño University in Bolivia and a M.S. in Fundamentals & Practices in Sustainability from the University of Lausanne in Switzerland.

She is an environmental scientist with hands-on experience in agroecological projects and resilience missions in Bolivia, Colombia, and Angola. Her cross-cultural fieldwork and commitment to elevating farmer knowledge make her well-suited to guide a regionally rooted, collaborative approach.

What’s Next

With relationships forming and collaborative agendas underway, the CAC RIC will continue:

• Deepening country partnerships and practitioner networks.
• Advancing seed banking groundwork and resource sharing.
• Expanding Spanish‑language technical materials and training opportunities.Preparing the Small Farm Resource Center concept for the region.

Whether you directly serve farmers, support development programs from afar, lead a church or community initiative, or simply care about resilient food systems, you can help strengthen this work. When you partner with ECHO through collaboration, advocacy, or financial support, you equip local leaders with practical, sustainable options that reduce hunger, improve livelihoods, and steward one of the most biodiverse regions on earth.

Stay connected with ECHO for progress updates, region-specific resources, and future opportunities to engage as the Central America & Caribbean Regional Impact Center grows.