What happened to Small Farm Resource Centers?

#1

Hi all,

I’ve been researching Small Farm Resource Centers on ECHO and can’t seem to find any recent articles or studies on them. According to this article by Price in 1993 (https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/efef5651-44ee-41b7-895a-52fe2183762a ), there was a SFRC in Belize.
Does anyone know if the SFRC in Belize is still functioning? Could anyone recommend some more recent articles on SFRC’s (within the last three years)? Have SFRC’s started going by a different name or become obsolete?

Any help would be appreciated!

Blessings,

Nate

#2

Thanks for asking! A collection of the ECHOcommunity resources is available below. Please ask all the questions you have for network members to weigh in on.

https://www.echocommunity.org/en/resources/7f6ce493-3aba-4550-9aa7-4bec7d17a60e

1 Like
#3

Thank you! I’m sorry I missed this.

#4

Hello Nate,

Good question! I work here at our ECHO Asia Small Farm Resource Center. I’m curious what aspects of SFRC’s are of particular interest for you? Are you looking for existing SFRC’s in a particular region, practices/technologies to incorporate into an SFRC, or more academic data on their effectiveness, etc…?

Here is a good article on SFRC’s in SE Asia that was done by our former Asia Director. We have a few additional SFRC’s that we have connected with since that time, to extend the list.

If you have other questions I can try to help you find more information and/or materials.

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#5

Hey Patrick,

I’m doing my homework on what it might take to start an SFRC in Belize. I worked at an organic farm in Indonesia for a couple summers during my college days. Their model and that of an SFRC were very similar. If the SFRC in Belize is no longer functioning, I would like to know why and if it would make sense to start it up again?

I read your article and really love what y’all have accomplished. That is truly unique and valuable!

I’m working on connecting with Tom Post about this, as he may know more.

#6

Tom occasionally pops up in this forum @Thomas_Post

#7

Hi All. They are still alive and well, but because they are usually not mainstream or part of government extension services, they tend to be a bit under the radar. Besides the meta-report Patrick shared, we created 7 case studies on SFRCS in SE Asia in 2013. They were hosted on Agrilinks, but I’m not seeing them anymore. PM me if you are interested and I can share all 7. They are full of good lessons learned.

We also presented at the 2013 ECHO Asia Conference: https://www.slideshare.net/andreabohn/bicksler-a-small-farm-resource-centers-echo-conference-oct-2013-short

Hope that helps and all the best with your SFRC!

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#8

Thanks Abram, I’ll PM you.

#9

@Abram_Bicksler are these the individual case studies? https://meas.illinois.edu/case-studies/

#10