Until 1981 ECHO worked on various projects in Haiti. ECHO's role in international agricultural development was more clearly defined with the arrival of the current director, Dr. Martin Price, in June of 1981. The work in Haiti was closed, and all of ECHO's resources were directed towards strengthening the work of other organizations. ECHO's primary functions are providing agricultural information to overseas workers, distributing seeds for promising food plants, and offering training opportunities at the Florida farm. One of Dr. Price's first decisions was to select a recent college graduate with an interest in international development to serve for a year as an ECHO intern.
Interns are responsible for managing the farm and seedbank, giving tours, and much more.
A second intern position was added in 1985, and by the fall of 1989 a new high of six interns were on staff. Additional personnel were necessary to handle the expanded seed bank and seed requests, growing farm duties, and the increasingly popular public tours. This mailing list has grown steadily over the years. The most recent edition went out to over 3500 agricultural workers in 140 countries around the world. ECHO began using computers in 1985.